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1 * 1 2 0 . NOVEMBER 20 2009
FABULOUS FAMILY READING: Ranking the Best GLBT Books for Kids
I
By TAMMY STONER
Over the past decade, quite a few children’s
books reflecting and representing gay families
have danced off the presses. We’ve waded
through some of the more popular titles to
compile a list of fabulous fare. These five of
ferings feature gay and lesbian families and
are ranked in order of their queer sensibil
ity— from subdued to outrageously super!
And Tango Makes Three
by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell:
illustrated by Henr y Cole: pre-K to 8
gears old
This
first
book is based
on the true-life
story of a zoo
keeper at New
York’s Central
Park Zoo, who
brings a boy-boy penguin couple an orphaned
egg in need of parents. The couple, Roy and
Silo, trade time sitting on the nest until the
egg hatches and they become a family.
Unlike humans, the other penguins didn’t
cause a ruckus. According to the American
Library Association, A nd Tango Makes Three
was the most challenged book of 2006, 2007
and 2008, and the most banned book of 2009.
It also received an American Library
Association’s Notable Children Book Award
COLUMNISTS PICK
Written on the Body
by Je a n e tte Winterson
I have always been a reader; for most of my
life my nose has been buried in a book, from
horror to British Chick Lit. W hen I returned
to college as an English major, much of my
reading became of a required nature, but oc
casionally, I am blown away by what I have the
privilege to study.
One of these books is an obscure novel
titled Written on the Body by a lesbian writer
from England, Jeanette Winterson. The story
itself is not obscure; it’s a love story with the
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Family Alphabet Book is a step higher on
our queer sensibility scale. ABC guides kids
through the alphabet with lively images of all
variations of families, doing activities guided
by each letter. Best yet, ABC doesn’t shy away
from showing all the wonderful queer families
out there, including the butch mama and the
musical theater daddies.
Book
by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland: 4-
by Bobbie Combs: illustrated bg Desiree
8 gear olds (marriage theme)
Keane and Brian Rappa: pre-K to 5
gears old
King & King is the big papa on our queer
sensibility scale for three reasons:
1.
It was first published in Dutch (who
doesn’t love the
Dutch?)
2.
Each
page looks like
Mardi Gras,
with subtle ac
tions to find
in the back
ground— a cat
walking high up on streamers
and a dolphin fountain spitting out a toad.
3.
And, oh, the story is about two princes
who marry to become King and King!
O f course, this book generated protests.
Four parents in Lexington even filed suit last
year against their school system for keeping
King & King in its curriculum. Their claim?
King & King represented an unconstitutional
effort to indoctrinate children into accept-
ing gay marriage. The case was thrown out,
with Judge Sandra Lynch (one of three on
the panel) stating, “The reading by a teacher
o f one book ... and even if to a young and
impressionable child, does not constitute
‘indoctrination.’”
Follow-up title King & King iff Family is
just as fabulous. In it the newlywed kings go
on their honeymoon, during which time they
find a lonely orphaned girl.
True to the queer sensibility, they open
their hearts, adopt her and raise her as a
princess. JB fi
ideas into a road map of love.
Written on the Body is told from
the perspective o f an androgynous
narrator—a narrator who is never
named and whose gender identity
not revealed. The narrator tells of
the love for the object of his or her
affection, a married woman named
Louise. While telling the story, the
narrator flashbacks on his or her life, giving the
reader a glimpse of previous conquests, both
male and female. Each love is measured by its
loss. W hen Louise becomes ill, the narrator
must make a decision—but is that decision the
ultimate sacrifice for love or merely a running
from it?
Winterson has penned 18 books, includ
ing a young adult novel, Tanglewreck, about
time travel and alternate realities. My favorite
line from Tanglewreck is one I return to often:
“Leave the past in its permanent home. Don’t
make that reality so strong that it tears down
this one.”
One way in which I determine a book’s
worth is whether it stays with me long after
I’ve turned the last page; Winterson’s work does
this for sure. Her style is unique and entirely
worth taking the time to experience, vftfi
(2006) and was listed as a Nick Jr. Family
Magazine Best Book of the Year (2006). And
for good reason— Tango has beautiful illustra
tions and a gentle, endearing story.
Emma and Meesha
M y Boy
by Kaitlgn Considine: illustrated bg
Binng Hobbs: pre-K to 5 gears old
One notch
above Tango on
the queer sen
sibility scale is
this book about
two moms and
their daughter
Emma. Emma
loves to play
with her cat*
Meesha, dressing
him up in outfits and (oops) paint
ing him. W hile not as strong on story as some
others on the list, this is a fun, easy read for
pre-schoolers—and a great tool for teaching
children how to play gently with the kitty!
-*•-*- ABC-A Family Alphabet
W ith a very mustached-feel, the ABC—A
-#■ if:- if:- if:- The Family Book
bgTodd Parr: pre-K to 7 gears old
The next recommended title on our scale
is The Family Book, illustrated in Todd Parr’s
trademark bold shapes and colors— think
Keith Haring through a kaleidoscope. W ith
humor and lively art that makes kids laugh,
Parr draws many different families: some with
two moms; some with one dad; some that are
quiet, some that are loud.
As Abigail Webb, co-founder of PLO P
(Pregnant Lesbians of Portland), sums up,
“I t’s nice to see so many kinds of families rep
resented, and not just the straight/gay setup.
It takes all kinds, as Todd Parr shows us in
his book.”
► iC
'll
v */
7*C 7jC 7*C 7*C
King 6 King
Kathryn Martini
usual elements, but it is written in
an unusual style.
The narrator opens with a very
deep question that becomes the
theme for the story: “W hy is the
measure of loVe loss?” The question
is never really answered but rather
unfolded through the book, caus
ing readers to consider that ques
tion and apply it to their own experiences.
Winterson brilliantly captures the physi
cal, mental and spiritual ways in which lust
and new love are experienced. She weaves the
physical science of the body with metaphysical
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