Story books about non-traditional families for a toddler/preschooler

[mrsfrenchy]

Hi all,
I have two DDs; DD1 is 2 and DD2 is 8 months. I'm married (in an heterosexual relationship), but identify as bi. We live in a very conservative area and have many family members that are anti-gay, etc. We also don't see many openly gay people while out and about in the community.

I want to get a story book (pictures on every page) that introduces the idea of "non-traditional" families to my kids. A book that shows both families with two dads and families with two moms would be best. Any recommendations for a book that's appropriate (attention span-wise) for a 2-3 year old?

Thanks

[wehrli]

hi! i'm so glad to hear of your interest in this subject!! my partner and i recently ordered some books off amazon.com... they have lots of good ones.
we ordered "Mama, Mommy and Me" (which is a short 'board' book) and "Heather Has Two Mommies" (which is a little longer but does have pics on every page. when i placed the order more suggestions came up, some of which were about having two daddies (i think one may have been "Daddy, Papa and Me")
Good luck!

[KSDoulaMama]

The Different Dragon is about a kid who has two moms... His family is talked about, but it's not necessarily a central theme to the story. He just happens to have two moms.

We also have Mommy, Mama, and Me for our daughter, and I love it.

[Pearl1]

also:

The Family Book by Todd Pharr

ABC: A Family Alphabet and 123: A Family Counting Book by Bobbie Combs

Oh The Things Mommies Do!: What Could Be Better Than Having Two? by Crystal Tompkins (Pictures are a little weird, but story is nice)

All Families are Special by Norma Simon

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson

Fun thread! I'll be back to see what others recommend!

 

Edited by Pearl1 - 2/14/12 at 7:41am

[lach]

Forum crashing... but there's a very sweet board book called Everywhere Babies that has tons of images of different families, and several of them seem to have gay and lesbian parents. They're all provided without comment, which I think is a nice normalization.

[MamaLatte]

Thanks for the great thread and suggestions. Anyone have recommendations for grade school books on this topic? We live in Santa Fe but only know 1-2 non-traditional families.

[Letitia]

I'm really happy to see this thread and definitely want to check out some of the titles mentioned.

My daughter (3-1/2 now) went through a period maybe a year ago where "Heather Has Two Mommies" was a very important book for her. I really like the book, but her vote was also yes.

I did not know until we had kids and received the book as a present that although Heather herself has two mommies, the book presents quite a few different family configurations.

[AngelaM]

We love "Who's in a Family"-
http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Family-Ro.../dp/188367266X

Perfect for toddlers/twos, and not JUST gay.

[mtnlisa]

I love this thread as a bibliophile! I googled a few of the books mentioned and of course amazon is happy to lead me on to other, related books.

I recently ran across a Patricia Polacco book about two moms and briefly glanced through it. I would highly recommend it for the pp looking for elementary school level books--her books are ALWAYS excellent (and usually make me tear up at the end). I believe it is called In our Mothers' house.

[Carolina Kel]

Even though I didn't ask for the suggestions, I wanted to give my thanks for making it easier for LGBT supporters to find books that are inclusive of all families and not just the most popular representations

[LibraryLady]

I was just going to suggest the Patricia Polacco book, but mtnlisa beat me to it! It's called 'In My Mothers' House' and it's really amazing. There's also a new one called A Tale of Two Daddies by Vinita Oelschlager (I think I got that right). If you're looking for 'chapter books', you'll not find many. Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle is a story about four girls, one of whom has two mommies, and in The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister by Charlotte Agell, the girl lives with her single mom and her dad lives with his male partner. There are other books for older kids, but they have older kid problems, etc.

[Kallie]

We just bought 'If I had a hundred mummies' for our son's second birthday

[madskye]

this one is cute--The Little Green Goose
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Green-G...7089801&sr=8-1