The big picture: Representation of LGBTQ characters and themes in picture books available in the United States 1972-2018

Abstract

The number of LGBTQ picture books—literary works for children containing lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer characters and themes—has increased considerably since 2000. While different segments of this category of books have been examined, there has been a limited examination of the entire genre. Using 234 English-language LGBTQ picture books available in the United States between 1972 and 2018, I conducted a content analysis of the main themes and central characters as well as investigate how the main themes changed over time and the extent to which they reflected the larger historical contexts in which they were created. I find that very few LGBTQ characters are cast as main protagonists and some (i.e., bisexuals) are completely absent. Similarly, I find an increase in diversity of themes over the decades yet with most centering on marriage, parenting, and domesticity. Together, LGBTQ picture books convey a limited view of the LGBTQ lives.

Keywords

picture books children's literature representation gender nonconformity homonormativity

With the rising status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) communities within the U.S. (Walters, 2014) and an increase in the number of same-sex families (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019), the last two decades have seen a surge in the publication of LGBTQ picture books—works for children that contain LGBTQ characters or address themes related to sexual and gender minority people’s lives. A growing body of scholarly literature has examined different segments of this category of books (Bickford, 2018; Bartholomaeus and Riggs, 2019; Capuzza, 2020; Chick, 2008; Crawley, 2017; Epstein, 2012; Esposito, 2009; Gray et al., 2021; Herzog, 2009; Knoblauch, 2016; Lo, 2019; Malcolm and Sheahan, 2019; Miller, 2019; Naidoo, 2013; Naidoo and Lynch, 2020; Sapp, 2010; Sciurba, 2017; Sullivan and Urraro, 2017; Taylor, 2012). Few, however, have tried to assess the entire field of LGBTQ picture books. Building on the previous scholarly work, I conduct a content analysis of 234 LGBTQ picture books available in the United States between 1972 and 2018. I examine the types of LGBTQ themes and characters represented in these books and how these representations changed over time. This study is unique in that it takes stock of the entire field of LGBTQ picture books rather than just looking at some of its constituent components. By examining an entire genre, I fully document which themes and types of characters are represented and which ones are absent. I also detail how the main themes in LGBTQ picture books change across decades and specify any notable omissions. In a political climate that bans LGBTQ books in some U.S. states, it is important to examine how exactly LGBTQ lives are represented in the pages of picture books and consider their implications on the representation of LGBTQ people in society and in popular imagination.

Background

While children’s literature has been studied extensively, picture books with LGBTQ characters and themes have only recently gained scholarly attention. Within this growing body of literature, researchers have typically examined the types of LGBTQ characters (Bickford, 2018; Chick, 2008; Crawley, 2020; Epstein, 2012; Taylor, 2012), including nonhuman characters (Wargo and Coleman, 2021) and familial arrangements (Esposito, 2009; Knoblauch, 2016; Lo, 2019; Schall, 2017; Sunderland and McGlashan, 2012, 2013). Overwhelmingly, picture books tend to contain gay and lesbian couples with children as their main characters (Hedberg et al., 2022; Kelly, 2012; Knoblauch, 2016; Naidoo, 2013; Naidoo and Lynch, 2020; Sunderland and McGlashan, 2012) and feature families that are mostly white and middle- and upper-class (Shimanoff et al., 2012; Lester, 2014; Lo, 2019) and have little to no interactions with other LGBTQ characters or larger LGBTQ communities (Bickford, 2018).

A growing literature is also devoted to examining trans characters and storylines in LGBTQ picture books (Bartholomaeus and Riggs, 2019; Capuzza, 2020; Crawley, 2017; Miller, 2019; Sullivan and Urraro, 2017). The researchers have noted an increase in the number of picture books with trans protagonists in the past two decades while simultaneously observing limited representations of the experiences of trans people. For instance, Bartholomaeus and Riggs (2019) found considerable adherence of trans characters to the gender binary and a focus on the “appropriate” gender clothing. Similarly, Crawley (2017) noted a general lack of racial and socioeconomic diversity among trans protagonists who are overwhelmingly portrayed as white and upper-middle class.

In addition to gender identity, a few studies have investigated characters’ gender nonconforming practices (Gray et al., 2021; Herzog, 2009; Malcolm and Sheahan, 2019; Sciurba, 2017). Examining 20 picture books published between 1972 and 2014, Sciurba (2017) observed a shift in the depiction of gender nonconformity. Prior to 2008, the main characters were presented as “typical boys” except for one gender nonconforming element (e.g., wanting to play with dolls). This element was perceived as a “problem” that was typically solved by aligning the “questionable” behavior with traditional masculinity roles (e.g., playing with dolls makes one a good father). After 2008, gender nonconformity was portrayed more broadly. The characters challenged traditional gender norms (e.g., boys wearing dresses), and storylines no longer sought to establish characters’ traditional masculinity in other realms of their lives (e.g., wears long hair but also plays sports) to counterbalance feminine behavior.

Finally, three notable attempts at examining the broader field of LGBTQ picture books should be mentioned. In his Rainbow Family Collection, Naidoo (2012) includes an overview of LGBTQ children’s literature history and provides a list of 175 LGBTQ picture books. However, his work is structured as an annotated bibliography rather than a systematic analysis of the books’ content and is intended as a resource for librarians, educators, and parents. Additionally, Naidoo’s list only includes items published prior to 2010, and as my research indicates, many more LGBTQ picture books have been published in the decade since. In contrast, Epstein (2013) provides an examination of various themes contained in LGBTQ books, but her analysis relies both on works for children (i.e., picture books) and young adults. Similarly, Bickford (2018) provides a detailed examination of LGBTQ themes and characters featured in trade books (i.e., books intended for general audiences and typically published by large commercial presses), but his analysis is limited to 65 titles, including works intended for both primary and intermediate readers. I build on these scholars’ work by conducting an analysis of the entire field of LGBTQ picture books. When focusing only on particular elements, the broader picture is often ignored or limited, hindering our view of larger patterns in the representation of gender and sexual minority lives within the pages of picture books.

Theoretical Motivation

I draw on the insights from queer theory to examine the representations of LGBTQ central characters and themes in picture books. The aim of queer theory is to destabilize the ostensibly inseverable relationship between gender, sex, and sexuality and to question the underlying assumptions upon which identity categories, including man, woman, gay, or straight are constructed (Jagose, 1996). Furthermore, queer theory interrogates the normalization of certain relationships (e.g., monogamous dyads) to reveal how these social groupings are the products of the systemic arrangements, power structures, and historical change rather than an extension of some “natural order.” In particular, scholars have used queer theory to examine hetero- and homonormativity within the context of LGBTQ lives (Duggan, 2002; Valocchi, 2017).

Homonormativity finds its origins in heteronormativity—“a set of ideas and practices that normalize and privilege heterosexuality” (Bartholomay, 2018:4; Warner, 1999). Heteronormativity positions heterosexuality as central to sexual life, making other forms of sexual expression (e.g., homosexuality, bisexuality, queerness) marginal. However, heteronormativity’s power originates in its reach into other, ostensibly asexual, spheres of social life such as family (Powell et al., 2010), education (Short, 2013), and the state (Canaday, 2009). By privileging monogamous, married relationships seemingly for the sake of procreation, heteronormativity drowns out other forms of familial arrangements and sexual expression, including singlehood (Kislev, 2019) or polyamorous relationships (Schippers, 2016). Thus, homonormativity adopts various asexual aspects of heteronormativity and integrates them into LGBTQ people’s lives. Set in the context of capitalism and neoliberalism, homonormativity compels sexual minorities to mimic their straight counterparts in marriage, monogamy, and parenthood (Duggan, 2002; Valocchi, 2017). As such, homonormativity not only aligns itself with heteronormative ideals, but it also creates divisions within the LGBTQ community by making distinctions between the “good” and the “bad” gays (Seidman, 2004). In other words, married, monogamous, same-sex couples with children are privileged over single, polyamorous, dependent-free, and non-monogamous LGBTQ people. Within this study, I draw on queer theory and the concepts of hetero- and homonormativity to examine which identity categories and social relationship are privileged and normalized within the pages of LGBTQ picture books and to what extent they represent queer life beyond marriage, parenthood, and domesticity.

Methods

Sample

For the purposes of this project, I define picture books as literary works where illustrations play an integral role in the telling of the story (Sipe, 1998). These books are designed to be read to children and for children to explore on their own. Because the young readers may vary in their reading abilities, the illustrations visually dominate the books’ pages with text remaining limited. While there is some variation in book lengths, most of these books are approximately 30 pages.

My goal was to examine all the English-language LGBTQ picture books that were published or distributed in the U.S. and were available for purchase or loan. However, since no one social actor or institution maintains a catalogue of this type of literature, I relied on a variety of sources to create a comprehensive list of such books. First, I included Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award (a.k.a. Lammy) finalists and winners. These are the two most prestigious and well-known literary awards honoring LGBTQ books and authors. The Stonewall Book Award (GLBTRT, 2022) has been sponsored and awarded by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table since 1971, and the Lammy is given out by Lambda Literary (Lambda Literary 2022), a nonprofit organization operating since 1989. A literary award not only gives a book prestige and increased sales, but it also bestows credibility and authority on the book. Award-granting bodies are the cultural gatekeepers, shaping which stories are worth telling and how (Shimanoff et al., 2012). Teachers, librarians, and parents are more likely to reach for an award-winning book when needing help choosing a book from an unfamiliar subject area. As such, books that are either shortlisted for an award or win an award have increased visibility and readership. This sample of books includes 30 award-recognized picture books—24 Lambda Literary and six Stonewall Book Award finalists and winners.

Second, I included lists of LGBTQ picture books complied by two university research centers specializing in children’s literature. The LGBTQ book collection at the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University—Fresno contained 37 titles while the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s (CCBC) list of LGBTQ Lives in Selected Children’s and Young Adult Books at the University of Wisconsin-Madison provided 21 picture books (CCBC, 2022). Both lists included books spanning four decades.

Third, I relied on two published annotated bibliographies of LGBTQ picture books. These included Jamie Campbell Naidoo’s Rainbow Family Collections (2012), which added 120 books to my study’s sample, and Frances Ann Day’s (2000) Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults, which contributed 26 titles to this corpus. Because of their date of publication, these sources contained books published in the late 20th and early twenty-first centuries.

Fourth, I used the Rainbow Book List (2018), which is prepared by the Rainbow Book List Committee of the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association. As the organization states, “the Rainbow Book List presents an annual bibliography of quality books with significant and authentic LGBQTIA + content, which are recommended for people from birth through 18 years of age” (Rainbow Book List, 2020). The first Rainbow Book List appeared in 2008; however, the first picture book was not added to the list until 2009. In this project, I include picture books listed from 2009 to 2018, which together provided 32 titles.

Finally, I drew on the list of LGBTQ picture books on Goodreads.com. While the librarians and other literary experts prepared the book sources I outlined above, the Goodreads website allows everyday readers to construct the list of LGBTQ picture books. This is both a weakness and a strength of this source. As a crowd-sourced list, Goodreads increases the selection bias, particularly towards self-published works. To minimize this shortcoming, I excluded any self-published books from my sample and only drew on works released by established commercial and independent publishing presses (i.e., the cultural gatekeepers). At the same time, the major strength of Goodreads list is its dynamism. Once published, the other sources cannot be easily updated with any missing or latest information whereas Goodreads list provides up to date information about available LGBTQ picture books. I drew 155 titles from this list.

While the books in this collection include a variety of LGBTQ themes and characters, having a LGBTQ theme or a character was not a criterion I used directly to select the books for this sample. Instead, if the book appeared in one of the sources described above, it was included in the corpus as long as it met other selection requirements (i.e., it was not a duplicate, or a coloring book, or a self-published work, or a non-English book or a book without an English translation). In total, the eight sources provided 421 picture book titles. After excluding any duplicates, coloring books, self-published works, and book not available in English, a collection of 234 picture books emerged (see Appendix for the list of titles). The books span five decades, beginning with 1972—a year of the first available LGBTQ picture book—to 31 December 2018, but three quarters of them were created in the 18 years since 2000. Most books were published in the United States (76 percent) with others originating in Canada (11 percent), United Kingdom (7 percent), Australia (3 percent), Spain (2 percent), the Netherlands (<1 percent), and New Zealand (<1 percent). Small and independent presses (e.g., Lee and Low Books) published a little over half of the books (52 percent) while the other works appeared in the catalogues of large and established publishing houses (e.g., Simon and Schuster).

In terms of authorship, the works of 213 authors and co-authors are included in this collection with 24 of them contributing more than one book. Lesléa Newman is the most prolific of the group with 12 titles over 26 years; however, the majority of the authors with multiple books contributed only two titles (14 authors), with the remaining 10 authors contributing three to five books. Together, these 24 authors contributed 64 picture books, which constitute 27 percent of the sample. These books covered a variety of themes and were typically published several years apart, which minimizes any disproportional influence of these authors on the entire collection.

Coding

To examine the types of themes in LGBTQ picture books and their changes over time, I developed a coding scheme using a twofold approach. First, drawing on available children’s literature scholarship, I prepared a list of potential themes that may appear in LGBTQ picture books. These storylines included: gender nonconformity, gender identity, family diversity, parenting, same-sex relationships, and AIDS. Second, I used a randomly selected subsample of 40 books to identify other themes. The emerged typology of themes was then used to code the entire sample. If a new theme emerged during the coding process, I added it to the list and verified if any recoding was necessary. This strategy yielded additional 12 themes (see Table 1 for a full list of themes).

Table 1.

Main themes in LGBTQ picture books by decades.

Theme	1970s		1980s		1990s		2000s		2010s		Total
Theme	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)
Gender nonconformity	75	(6)	45	(5)	18	(7)	19	(13)	20	(22)	23	(53)
Family diversity	—		36	(4)	18	(7)	19	(13)	14	(15)	17	(39)
Gender identity	12	(1)	—		—		9	(6)	20	(22)	13	(29)
LGBTQ characters in the background	—		—		18	(7)	12	(8)	12	(13)	12	(28)
Parenthood	—		—		8	(3)	13	(9)	6	(6)	8	(18)
Marriage	—		—		2	(1)	4	(3)	11	(12)	7	(16)
Same-sex relationship (2 man)	—		9	(1)	5	(2)	6	(4)	3	(3)	4	(10)
Adoption	—		—		—		6	(4)	4	(4)	3	(8)
HIV/AIDS	—		9	(1)	15	(6)	—		—		3	(7)
Biography of a gay or lesbian person	—		—		—		3	(2)	4	(4)	3	(6)
Children coping with having gay parents	—		—		5	(2)	3	(2)	1	(1)	2	(5)
LGBTQ pride	—		—		2	(1)	1	(1)	2	(2)	2	(4)
Gay relative	—		—		2	(1)	1	(1)	1	(1)	1	(3)
Same-sex relationship (2 women)	—		—		2	(1)	1	(1)	—		<1	(2)
Divorce or separation	12	(1)	—		2	(1)	—		—		<1	(2)
Donor conceived child/Sex education	—		—		—		1	(1)	1	(1)	<1	(2)
Religion	—		—		—		—		2	(2)	<1	(2)
Total	100	(8)	100	(11)	100	(40)	100	(68)	100	(108)	100	(234)

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

I used latent coding to focus on the main theme of the book (Babbie, 2016). While a book can simultaneously address multiple topics (e.g., family diversity and adoption), I concentrated on the central plotline to determine the overall theme of the book. For example, in Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly’s (2016) book, Families, adoption is mentioned briefly, yet I coded the main theme as “family diversity” because the book is devoted to showcasing different familial structures where an adoptive family constitutes just one example of a family type. Because I am interested in examining the change in frequency and type of themes over time, I chose to focus on picture books’ central themes; however, adopting this analytical strategy limits the insights potentially gained from the inclusion of secondary storylines.

To distinguish between the themes of “gender identity” and “gender nonconformity,” I coded a book as having the “gender identity” theme when the character identified as a gender different from the one assigned at birth or when a book problematized the idea of gender identities all together as in the case of, for example, Lois Gould’s (1978) book X: A Fabulous Child Story. In contrast, I coded a book’s main storyline as “gender nonconforming” when the character(s) engaged in non-normative gender behavior or appearance but still identified with their gender assigned at birth.

Analysis

Drawing on strategies outlined in the previous section, I devised the coding schema and initially applied it to a random sample of 20 books to ensure that the coding categories were valid, exhaustive, and did not overlap. Any resulting discrepancies were addressed, and this code testing process was repeated on a new small sample of books until no new issues arose. To increase reliability of the data, I coded all the books twice. I also asked another social scientist to code a subsample of 40 books (17 percent of the entire sample). Based on the Krippendorff Alpha, our interrater reliability rating was 0.83 (Krippendorff, 2011).

Findings

Central characters

Most of the central characters within this collection of picture books were human (82 percent) with other protagonists falling into animal (14 percent), fantastical creatures (1 percent), or objects (1 percent) categories. Four books (2 percent) included a mix of character types. Among the human characters, 38 percent were girls or women, and 32 percent were boys or men. There were also nine trans main characters, one person that was two-spirited, and five characters who were ungendered (i.e., their gender was intentionally unspecified as in the title character of Afsaneh Moradian’s Jamie is Jamie). In terms of race and ethnicity, most books featured main characters presenting as white (66 percent) with other races and ethnicities constituting a small portion of the sample (African American 7 percent, Hispanic 4 percent, Asian 2 percent, and mixed-race 2 percent). The remaining 19 percent of picture books contained multiple central characters of different races.

While the LGBTQ picture books included many gay and lesbian people, few of them were featured as main protagonists. Among all the books examined, only 16 percent contained sexual minorities as central characters (14 gay men and nine lesbian characters). When they did appear, they were all pictured as white, and the gay men characters were more likely to be portrayed as adults (e.g., uncles, neighbors) whereas lesbians were represented as children or teens. Strikingly, no identifiable bisexual people were featured in any of the LGBTQ books. As mentioned earlier, there were also nine trans characters. They were all portrayed as white, and typically as children. Additionally, the books featured four nonhuman characters (i.e., fox, bear/bunny, and goblin) that could be interpreted as transgender. I address the implications of this type of representation in the “Discussion and Conclusion” section.

Main themes

While the overall number of different themes has increased over the last 50 years, some themes appeared more frequently than others. As documented in Table 1, 18 distinct themes were represented in LGBTQ picture books between 1972 and 2018. Themes of gender nonconformity, family diversity, gender identity, and backgrounding were most common, and they are discussed in detail in the following subsections.

Gender nonconformity

Gender nonconformity was the most common theme in the LGBTQ picture books in terms of absolute numbers. These storylines emphasized that it is acceptable to act in ways that are not consistent with traditional norms of femininity and masculinity. Unlike books taking up the theme of gender identity, these works focused on gender nonconforming behavior and appearance. As such, they featured boys who liked to dance (e.g., The Only Boy in the Ballet Class, Jump!, Ballerino Nate, or Dogs Don’t Do Ballet), preferred pink as their favorite color (e.g., The Boy with Pink Hair), and played both with dolls as well as building blocks (e.g., Toby’s Doll’s House), and girls who disliked dresses (e.g., Annie’s Plaid Shirt or Melinda and the Class Photograph), played basketball (e.g., The Basket Ball or Allie’s Basketball Dream), and climbed trees (e.g., The Girl Who Would Rather Climb Trees). While both boy and girl characters engaged in gender nonconforming behaviors, boys were three times more likely to be featured in narratives of gender nonconformity than girls (65 percent vs. 21 percent, respectively). Noticeably, none of the characters featured in the picture books about gender nonconformity were explicitly identifiable as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. In general, the picture books avoided any intersectional narratives between gender and non-heterosexual sexualities. They focused on gender norm breaking, either leaving the character’s sexuality unaddressed or letting the reader assume that the character was heterosexual.

Family diversity

Family diversity was another common theme within LGBTQ picture books. The works within this category tended to showcase different familial arrangements such as mixed-race, multi-generational, and nuclear families, including same-sex couples with children. It should be noted that these books showed family diversity among all families rather than just within LGBTQ familial arrangements. The goal of these books was to normalize same-sex families by highlighting their structural similarities (i.e., two parents and children) to other families and placing them within the larger familial cornucopia. These books usually took on a family album format, where each page in the book featured a portrait of a different family. For example, in Suzanne and Max Lang’s (2015) book Families, Families, Families, the readers see images of cartoon animal families with different configurations of parents and children. To signify an adoptive family, there is a mother and a father sheep with their two adopted wolf pups. For multi-generational grouping, there is a walrus grandparent couple with a grandchild. The same-sex family is represented with two roosters and their three, presumably adopted chicks. While often visually engaging, these books focus on family structure, providing little detail about the family’s inner workings.

More recently published books within the family diversity theme take on a more narrative approach. For example, in Fran Manushkin’s (2015) book, Happy in Our Skin, the reader is introduced to a lesbian couple with three children. The couple is mixed-race (i.e., African American and white) while all the children are black. The plotline documents an average day in the life of this family as it unfolds in a New York City neighborhood. As the family picnics in the park, goes to the swimming pool, and attends a block party, it encounters a kaleidoscope of friends and neighbors. The parents and children meet another mixed-race family, a Jewish and a Muslim family, a gay male couple, and a child who uses a wheelchair. These families are presented in relationships to each other and are contextualized within a larger neighborhood community. Also, while the reader can only assume that many of the pictured couples are married, all these families are marked by the presence of children—the most common way in which Americans define a family (Powell et al., 2010). This was also true in the books that employed the family portrait format where the featured families always had children in the picture.

Gender identity

Another large theme within LGBTQ picture books was gender identity. The typical storylines within this category included narratives about characters whose gender is different from the one assigned at birth and documented their journeys of self-development and acceptance. For example, in Andrea Loney’s (2017) Bunnybear, the reader meets a bear who is a bunny and, as such, is ostracized by both the bear and the bunny communities. The Bunnybear struggles with who he is until he meets Grizzlybun, a bunny who is a bear. The two characters become friends and accept each other for who they are. While some of the books in this category spoke directly of the transition process, others addressed gender identity more broadly by examining the general notion of what it means to be a boy or a girl or neither. Books such as Sarah Savage and Fox Fisher’s (2017) Are You a Boy or a Are You a Girl?, Lois Gould’s (1978) X: A Fabulous Child Story, or Afsaneh Moradian’s (2018) Jamie is Jamie exemplified this category. In this latter book, the readers meet Jamie who recently moved to a new neighborhood. On Jamie’s first day in a new school, other students have a tough time figuring out if Jamie is a boy or a girl since Jamie helps one classmate fix a broken wheel on a toy car, practices ballet moves with another, and still plays action figures with someone else. When the school day is over, Jamie’s gender remains unspecified, but the students are no longer preoccupied with Jamie’s gender identity, focusing instead on child’s diverse abilities. As a result, the next day, all the students are moved to play in a way that transgress traditional gender roles (i.e., girls are teaching ballet using action figures and boys are taking care of a baby doll). Using Jamie’s character, the author problematizes the idea of gender itself by creating an ungendered character whose gender expression and identity are not tied to the gender binary. By evading the use of any pronouns, assigning gender neutral name, and keeping characters’ appearance androgynous, the author challenges the reader to contemplate gender’s constructionist assumptions and creates a world where gender might be superfluous.

Backgrounding

A substantial group of books (n = 29) contained lesbian and gay characters that were peripheral to the book’s central theme. They were grouped under the “Gay and Lesbian characters in the background” category. These characters appeared briefly, typically as someone’s parent, relative, or an owner (in the case of animals) and had little to do with the book’s main theme. For example, in Steve Jenkins et al., (2018) The True Adventures of Esther the Wonder Pig, the story revolves around the title character’s mischiefs. A gay male couple appears only at the outset of the story to mark their ownership of Esther, the pet pig. Similarly, in Jessica Sima’s (2018) Harriet Gets Carried Away the parents—a gay couple—are introduced in passing leaving the entire book to focus on their daughter’s vivid imagination. While each book in this category contained at least one gay or lesbian character, the book’s themes did not speak directly to any experiences of sexual or gender minority people. Instead, the placement of gay and lesbian characters as peripheral tended to normalize their presence as everyday people. While this finding is constant with McGlashan and Sunderland’s (2012) work on representation of two-mom and two-dad families in picture books, in this large sample of books, the practice of backgrounding extends to a variety of gay and lesbian characters who are not coupled.

Main themes over time

The publication of the first LGBTQ picture books in the 1970s coincided with the emergence of the Gay Liberation Movement and the consolidation of same-sex acts and desires into (presumably) stable homosexual identities. Over the following decades, the notable events in the history of LGBTQ communities made their way into children’s literature. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s, the gender nonconformity storyline dominated the landscape; however, as the status of sexual and gender minorities began to change in the U.S., other themes began to emerge. As noted in Table 1, picture books addressing gender nonconformity significantly declined over the decades in proportion to other themes. The new storylines that emerged tend to center around family, parenting, and marriage. In the 1980s, same-sex families began to appear in books about family diversity. This trend was consistent with the larger societal shifts in the representation of gay and lesbian people in mainstream culture, particularly with respect to family life. In 2010s, books about marriage grew in number as the struggle for same-sex marriage unfolded on the state and the national levels.

Since 2000, the number of books that addressed gender identity also increased significantly with a noticeable surge beginning in 2010s. This rise coincides with the advent of the trans rights movement and overall greater visibility of trans and gender nonconforming individuals (Stryker, 2017). Among the 27 books (12 percent) that spoke about the issues of gender identity, seven explicitly dealt with being trans, and all seven were published after 2010. Typically, these books focused on the various aspects of the transition process and overwhelmingly tended to document this process in the direction of male to female (e.g., Michelle and Phoenix Finch’s (2018) Phoenix Goes to School).

The relationship between historical context and picture book themes is most evident in the case of the AIDS epidemic. The 1980s and early 90s were marked by the appearance of the HIV/AIDS, and its subsequent devastation of the gay men’s community. The LGBTQ picture books address this historical moment in seven books published within the same period. Exemplified by books such as Patricia Quinlan’s (1994) Tiger Flowers and Sarah Weeks (1995) Red Ribbon, these works feature gay men—typically uncles or neighbors—who are dying of AIDS. They were created to expose the readers to this devastating disease and to teach them how to cope with death. The books are narrated from the perspective of children who must deal with the passing of a loved one due to this illness. After the 1990s, as AIDS transitioned from being a death sentence to a chronic disease, the picture books on this subject disappeared and never reemerged.

Discussion and Conclusion

This study examined the entire field of LGBTQ picture books with respect to main themes and characters. This big picture gives a limited view of LGBTQ life, focusing primarily on marriage, parenthood, and domesticity. Furthermore, LGBTQ characters are rarely placed in the center of storytelling; however, there is some indication that this trend might be changing as more LGBTQ picture books are being published. To put it differently, both the themes and characters featured in these picture books are not particularly queer and tend to skew towards homonormative.

One explanation for a limited representation of LGBTQ lives in picture books can be attributed to the subject matter itself. LGBTQ picture books face a unique challenge because they are made distinct from other picture books by valorizing particular set of sexual and gender identities, and yet they cannot speak directly about sexuality (or sex), since discussing children’s sexuality remains a taboo in the anglophone world (Angelides 2019). In times where any discussions of sexuality related to children is met with fear and panic (Angelides 2019; Epstein 2017; Nodelman 1984), putting forth a homonormative family model might be one of the few ways to showcase any representation of LGBTQ life in picture books. Since the 1980s, the United States society has shifted from seeing children as more agentive, small people to beings devoid of sexuality and steeped in innocence—an innocence that needs to be protected (Kincaid 1998; Lancaster 2011). Within this social context, LGBTQ books cannot directly take up sexuality. Instead, they can focus on love and affection between same-sex people. For many authors and illustrators, focusing on homonormative families is the primary way in which they can make sure that their books reach the intended audiences without creating controversy and triggering removal from library shelves. To make it clear, I am not arguing that homonormativity is desirable or fitting. Instead, I want to note that while the critique of homonormativity in picture books is valid, this critique also needs to take into consideration the social context in which these literary works are created and examine how that social context influences the creative and publishing processes of children’s literature. At the same time, the books that embrace the homonormative model are not shielded from censorship. As the most recent backlash against LGBTQ books in public schools and libraries in the United States indicates (Dellatto, 2022) for some vocal members of the public no LGBTQ themes or characters are suitable for children or adolescence readers regardless of how they are packaged.

It is also important to consider the intended audience(s) of LGBTQ picture books when examining these findings. Bishop (1990) famously conceptualized picture books as either mirrors or windows—books can reflect readers’ lives or open them up to the new worlds. For children of LGBTQ families, the works featured in the present study serve as a reflection of their everyday lives. In a society where representations of opposite-gender and heterosexual families dominate the mainstream, seeing images of a gay or trans parent or a boy wearing a dress in the pages of a book can be both reassuring and validating to a child. This in part can explain why so few of the central characters are explicitly portrayed as LGBTQ since the books might be written for children who have not yet fully formed their own gender or sexual identities but instead are part of LGBTQ families. Books aiming to help children understand their gay or lesbian parents are exemplary of this phenomenon. Focusing on the sexual and gender identities of the secondary characters (i.e., parents) rather than a central character, these books examine a child’s relationship to a parent’s sexuality. At the same time, if a child is exploring their own sexuality or gender, finding non-homonormative models in the LGBTQ picture books might be difficult since only eight central characters are someone other than a same-sex parent.

Myers (2014) argues that picture books can also serve as roadmaps—providing directions on how to lead one’s life. With some exceptions, the readers are rarely presented with scenarios that are queer and do not prize stable long-term relationships, marriage, parenting, or domesticity. This limitation is consequential not only for sexually and gender questioning young readers, but also for broader audiences. Considering that large commercial presses publish half of the LGBTQ picture books, these works might also be intended for larger (heterosexual) parental audiences and serve as a window into the unfamiliar worlds. However, this proverbial window is often limited to two-parent, same-sex families with children, which reflects some but not all LGBTQ lives.

While few in number, the works featuring trans characters and themes speak to some of the larger challenges and shortcomings of depicting gender and sexual minority people’s lives in the pages of picture books. Overwhelmingly, the majority of trans protagonists are children, which limits how trans people can be represented. First, focusing only on children’s experiences suggests that gender questioning and transitioning can occur primarily during the early life stages. With one exception (i.e., Sophie Labelle’s Rachel’s Christmas Boat), the stories of tarns adults are missing from these picture books, which is striking since many children’s most common interactions might be with a trans parent or a relative in addition to a trans class- or playmate. Second, the children’s depictions tend to lack any intersectionality, especially with respect to gender and sexuality. All the trans characters are white and middle-class, and for reasons discussed above, they are devoid of sexuality. As such, the reader walks away with a rather narrow understanding of what the experiences of trans people are like. Additionally, three picture books use animals or fantastical creatures to tell stories of (ostensibly) transgender experiences. Relying on nonhuman characters, the book’s authors can weave their narratives without appearing too didactic or literal about trans lives, yet with this level of abstraction, the storytelling sometimes becomes too generic, eclipsing the specific experiences of trans people. The readers then are at liberty to impose their own interpretations on the characters and situations in the book, which without specific references to trans issues, can end up having little to do with understanding the experiences of trans people.

My analysis also raised questions about the general classification of LGBTQ picture books. The works addressing gender nonconformity were the largest subset of picture books in this sample. However, none of the main characters who exhibited or engaged in gender nonconforming behavior or presentation were identifiable as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer. In most cases, they were (heterosexual) boys and girls who wanted to wear gender nonprescriptive clothing or accessories and engage in gender norm-breaking activities. While gender nonconformity is also available to LGBTQ people, it is not an exclusive domain of LGBTQ populations. Anyone can transgress or play with society’s gender norms, yet all the available listings and bibliographies of LGBTQ picture books used in this study constantly lump gender nonconformity with themes and characters representing sexual and gender minority people. By doing so, they implicitly assign gender nonconformity as the purview of minority populations rather than treating it as a societal characteristic. This attribution has profound implication for readers’ understanding of what gender nonconformity is and who engages in it.

While my goal was to examine all the LGBTQ picture books available in the United States, some books might have been inadvertently excluded from my analysis since I had to pool a variety of sources to create my sample. Similarly, I only examined books published by independent and large established presses (i.e., the cultural gatekeepers) and excluded self-published works. However, a preliminary investigation of these author-published books suggests that many of the works address the themes often neglected by large publishers such as queerness or families of choice. They also seem to include greater diversity in characters regarding race, ethnicity, and age. Future research should examine how and to what extent self-published picture books fill the thematic gaps left by the established commercial and independent presses.

With the proliferation of different themes in LGBTQ picture books, it is important to document the notable omissions. For example, with one-third of the themes focusing on family and committed same-sex relationships, the lack of attention to separation or divorce is striking. Only two books, Jane Severance’s (1979) When Megan Went Away and Lesléa Newman’s (1993) Saturday is Pattyday—both published more than 25 years ago—take up the topic of separation and discuss what it is like for a child and a parent when a relationship ends. By comparison, at least 10 picture books take up the subject of heterosexual divorce (CCBC, 2022; Walsh, 2017). Given the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, formal divorce is still a relative novelty in same-sex relationships and might not have trickled down to the level of children’s literature yet. At the same time, LGBTQ people have been forming (and dissolving) committed relationships that often included children for decades, but these characteristics of a relationship are largely absent from LGBTQ picture books.

Similarly, with the emphasis on same-sex families with children, few books address issues of adoption, donor conceived children, or surrogacy. In most books, the presence of children among gay and lesbian couples is taken for granted with no explanation as to how a child came to be a part of a family, especially in the books that highlight different familial arrangements. However, several self-published picture books fill this void of adoption and surrogacy storylines (Sarles, 2020). Also, within this collection of books, the issues of religion are seldom addressed despite research showing that sexual minorities maintain rich albeit often complicated religious lives (Sumerau et al., 2016). Only two books, Gayle E. Pitman’s (2018) A Church for All and Elisabeth Kushner’s (2013) The Purim Superhero, speak directly to some religious experiences of sexual minorities.

Also, it is important to note a complete absence of identifiable bisexual characters in any of the LGBTQ picture books. None of the examined works identified bisexual protagonists or themes in either text or images. This absence may be in part attributable to the difficulties of visually portraying bisexuality, especially in contrast to the same gender characters and relationships. That said, Knopp-Shwyn and Fracentese (2019) observed that bisexuality can be portrayed in picture books without being didactic. As they note, “to represent a bisexual character outside of naming bisexuality explicitly, a character must (a) be shown to have romantic or sexual attraction, or the possibility of romantic or sexual attraction (b) to multiple characters (c) of more than one gender over the course of the story (d) without the text authoritatively negating the character’s existence as bisexual” (2019:7). The authors emphasize that some of the children’s books are already engaging in this type of representation, but they focus one or two of the points but never all of them. Thus, picture books, as both literary and art forms, have the capacity to include fully developed bisexual characters and their complex lives. They just require the authors to put all these pieces together into a cohesive narrative reflective of the bisexual people’s experiences.

Lastly, while I examine LGBTQ picture books available in the U.S., my findings carry implication for non-U.S. audiences. As recent scholarship has shown (Epstein and Chapman 2021), LGBTQ picture books are appearing in different parts of the world. Several of the books included in this sample were English translations of works created abroad. Similarly, many of the picture books initially created and published in the U.S. are being translated and distributed in other countries. Given this rising transnationality of LGBTQ picture books, my study can serve as a benchmark for understanding which themes tend to “travel” the most between societies. Also, due its scale, this project can serve as a comparison when examining representations of gender and sexual minority people’s lives in other cultures and places.

Taken together, the big picture that emerges from these LGBTQ picture books is limited. These works showcase a varied but narrowly defined representation of LGBTQ themes and characters. Their focus tends to be on parenting, marriage, and domesticity with a homonormative family model at the center of the storytelling. Other themes do appear, but except for gender nonconformity, they constitute a small part of the entire corpus. More picture books that include the representations of single, bisexual, and queer lives are needed. Children’s literature is one of the primary tools of socialization, and, as such, these picture books serve as a barometer of what aspects of LGBTQ lives the society deems as valuable and worth of transmitting to younger generations. The lives of LGBTQ people are layered and multifaceted, and picture books should reflect this reality.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Shawna Degraff and Lara Hoss for their assistance in organizing and managing the list of LGBTQ children’s books. I thank Brian Powell for his invaluable feedback on how to make this manuscript better as well as Mary Werden for her mad editorial skills. Finally, thank you to Michael A. Young for his support and help.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was completed with support of the Purdue University Northwest's College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences summer faculty research grant.

ORCID iD

Hubert Izienicki

Appendix

Table A1.

LGBTQ picture books used in the analysis.

Title	Author(s)
10,000 Dresses	Marcus Ewert
1 2 3 a Family Counting Book	Bobbie Combs
19 Girls and Me	Darcy Pattison
47,000 Beads	McGillis Adeyoha
A Boy’s Best Friend	Joan Alden
A Church for All	Gayle Pitman
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo	Jill Twiss
A Family Is a Family Is a Family	Sara O'Leary
A Fire Engine for Ruthie	Lesléa Newman
A Girl Like Any Other	Sophie Labelle
A House for Everyone	Jo Hirst
A Is for Activist	Innosanto Nagara
A Name on the Quilt: A Story of Remembrance	Jeannine Atkins
A Peacock Among Pigeons	Tyler Curry
A Princess of Great Daring	Tobi Hill-Meyer
A Tale of Two Daddies	Vanita Oelschlager
A Tale of Two Mommies	Vanita Oelschlager
ABC: A Family Alphabet Book	Bobbie Combs
All Families Are Special	Norma Simon
All You Need Is Love: Celebrating Families of All Shapes and Sizes	Shanni Collins
Allie’s Basketball Dream	Barbara E. Barber
Amazing Grace	Mary Hoffman
Amy Asks a Question… Grandma—What’s a Lesbian?	Jeanne Arnold
An Enchanted Hair Tale	Alexis De Veaux
And Tango Makes Three	Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Anna Day and the O-Ring	Elaine Wickens
Annie’s Plaid Shirt	Stacy Davids
Antonio’s Card/La tarjeta de Antonio	Rigoberto González
Are You a Boy or a Girl?	Karleen Pendleton Jiménez
Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?	Sarah Savage
Asha’s Mums	Rosamund Elwin
Baby’s First Words	Stella Blackstone and Sunny Scribens
Ballerino Nate	Kimberly Bradley
Bedtime for Baby Teddy	Tamara Arc-Dekker
Belinda’s Bouquet	Lesléa Newman
Bell’s Knock Knock Birthday	George Parker
Big Bob, Little Bob	James Howe
Bonjour, Mr. Satie	Tomie DePaola
Bunnybear	Andrea Loney
Buster’s Sugartime	Mark Brown
Caleb’s Friend	Eric Jon Nones
Celebrating Families	Rosmarie Hausherr
Christian, the Hugging Lion	Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Dad David, Baba Chris and Me	Ed Merchant
Daddy, Papa, and Me	Lesléa Newman
Daddy’s Roommate	Michael Willhoite
Daddy’s Wedding	Michael Willhoite
Dear Child	John Farrell
Dogs Don’t Do Ballet	Anna kemp
Donovan’s Big Day	Lesléa Newman
Drum, Chavi, Drum!	Mayra L. Dole
El Amor de Todos Los Colores/The Many-Colored Love	Lucia Moreno Velo
Eustace and Clyde	Marina Aizen
Everywhere Babies	Susan Meyers
Exactly Like Me	Lynn Phillips
Families	Meredith Tax
Families	Susan Kuklin
Families	Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly
Families, Families, Families!	Suzanne Lang and Max Lang
Families: A Celebration of Diversity, Commitment, and Love	Aylette Jenness
Felicia’s Favorite Story	Lesléa Newman
For You and No One Else	Edward van de Vendel
From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea	Kai Thom
Gaston	Kelly DiPucchio
Gertrude Is Gertrude Is Gertrude Is Gertrude	Jonah Winter
Gloria Goes to Gay Pride	Lesléa Newman
Goblinheart	Brett Axel
Going to Fair Day	Brenna Harding and Vicki Harding
Happy in Our Skin	Fran Manushkin
Harriet Gets Carried Away	Jessie Sima
Heather Has Two Mommies	Lesléa Newman
Hello, Sailor	André Sollie
Home at Last	Vera Williams
Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores	James Howe
How My Family Came to Be: Daddy, Papa, and Me	Andrew Aldrich
How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?	Ann Heron and Meredith Maran
I Am Jazz	Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
If I Had a Hundred Mummies	Vanda carter
I’m a Girl!	Yasmeen Ismail
In Our Mothers’ House	Patricia Polacco
Introducing Teddy: A Gentle Story About Gender and Friendship	Jess Walton
Is That for a Boy or a Girl?	S. Bear Bergman
Is Your Family Like Mine?	Lois Abramchik
It’s NOT the Stork!	Robie H. Harris
Jack (Not Jackie)	Erica Silverman
Jack and Jim	Kitty Crowther
Jacob’s New Dress	Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman
Jamie is Jamie	Afsaneh Moradian
Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin	Susanne Bösche
Jesse’s Dream Skirt	Bruce Mack
Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums	Hedi Argent
Julian Is a Mermaid	Jessica Love
Jump!	Michelle Magorian
Just the Way We Are	Claire Robertson and Jessica Shirvington
Keesha and Her Two Moms Go Swimming	Monica Bay-Clarke and Cheril N Clarke
Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing	Kay Haring
King and King and Family	Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
King and King	Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Koalas on Parade	Brenna Harding and Vicki Harding
La Princesa Li/The Princess Li	Luis Amavisca
Leah’s Mustache Party	Nadia Mike
Little Pig Saves the Ship	David Costello
Littles and How They Grow	Kelly DiPucchio
Los Mejores Colores/Best Best Colors	Eric Hoffman
Losing Uncle Tim	Marykate Jordan
Lots of Mommies	Jane Severance
Love Is in the Hair	Syrus Ware
Love Is Love	Michael Genhart
Love Is You and Me	Monica Sheehan
Love Me Tender	Elvis Presley and Stephanie Graegin
Lucy Goes to the Country	Joseph Kennedy
M Is for Mustache	Catherine Hernandez
Made by Raffi	Craig Pomranz
Mama Eat Ant, Yuck!	Barbara Edmonds
Manu Pone La Mesa/Manu Sets the Table	Lucia Moreno Velo
Manu Se Va a La Cama/Manu’s Bedtime	Lucia Moreno Velo
Manu, No!/No, Manu	Lucia Moreno Velo
Max the Stubborn Little Wolf	Marie-Odile Judes
Melinda and the Class Photograph	Deborah Van Der Beek
Milly, Molly and Different Dads	Gill Pittar
Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle	Pija Lindenbaum
Molly’s Family	Nancy Garden
Mom and Mum Are Getting Married!	Ken Setterington
Mommy, Mama, and Me	Lesléa Newman
Monday Is One Day	Arthur Levine
Monicka’s Papa Is Tall	Heather Jopling
Moondragon in the Mosque Garden	El-Farouk Khaki
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress	Christine Baldacchino
Mummy Never Told Me	Babette Cole
My Dad Has HIV	Earl Alexander, Sheila Rudin, and Pam Sejkora
My Family, Your Family	Lisa Bullard
My House	Brenna Harding and Vicki Harding
My Princess Boy	Cheryl Kilodavis
My Two Uncles	Judith Vigna
Nice Little Girls	Elizabeth Levy
Not All Princesses Dress in Pink	Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Not Every Princess	Jeffrey Bone and Lisa Bone
Odd Bird Out	Helga Bansch
Old Dog Baby Baby	Julie Fogliano
Oliver Button Is a Sissy	Tomie DePaola
One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads	Johnny Valentine
One Family	George Shannon
One of a Kind, Like Me/Unico Como Yo	Laurin Mayeno
Operation Marriage	Cynthia Chin-Lee
Over the River and Through the Wood	Linda Ashman
Pearl Power and the Girl with Two Dads	Mel Elliott
Phoenix Goes to School	Michelle and Phoenix Finch
Pink!	Lynne Rickards
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag	Rob Sanders
Prince and Knight	Daniel Haack
Princess Charming	Sarah Wildsmith
Princess Nina	Marlise Achterberg
Pugdog	Andrea U'Ren
Rachel’s Christmas Boat	Sophie Labelle
Real Sisters Pretend	Megan Lambert
Red Ribbon	Sarah Weeks
Red: A Crayon’s Story	Michael Hall
Rough, Tough Charley	Verla Kay
Ryan’s Mom is Tall	Heather Jopling
Santa’s Husband	Daniel Kibblesmith
Saturday Is Pattyday	Lesléa Newman
Seamus’s Short Story	Heather Hartt-Sussman
Sewing the Rainbow	Gayle Pitman
Spacegirl Pukes	Katy Watson
Sparkle Boy	Lesléa Newman
Spot	Todd Tuttle
Stagestruck	Tomie DePaola
Stella Brings the Family	Miriam Schiffer
Super Power Baby Shower!	Tobi Hill-Meyer and Fay Onyx
The Adventures of Honey and Leon	Alan Cumming
The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy	S. Bear Bergman
The Basket Ball	Esmé Raji Codell
The Boy and the Bindi	Vivek Shraya
The Boy Toy	Phyllis Hacken Johnson
The Boy Who Cried Fabulous	Lesléa Newman
The Boy with Pink Hair	Perez Hilton
The Daddy Machine	Johnny Valentine
The Day They Put a Tax on Rainbows	Johnny Valentine
The Different Dragon	Jennifer Bryan
The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans	Johnny Valentine
The Entertainer	Michael Willhoite
The Family Book	Todd Parr
The Flower Girl Wore Celery	Meryl Gordon
The Gender Wheel: A Story about Bodies and Gender for Everybody	Maya Gonzalez
The Generous Jefferson Bartleby Jones	Forman Brown
The Girl Who Would Rather Climb Trees	Miriam Schlein
The Great Big Book of Families	Mary Hoffman
The Harvey Milk sStory	Kari Krakow
The Lopez Family: Science Fair Day	Monica Bay-Clarke and Cheril N Clarke
The Newspaper Pirates	J. Wallce Skelton
The Not-So-Only Child	Heather Jopling
The Only Boy in Ballet Class	Denise Gruska
The Paper Bag Princess	Robert Munsch
The Prince and the Frog	Olly Pike
The Prince S	Mikayla Spence
The Princess Knight	Cornelia Funke
The Purim Superhero	Elisabeth Kushner
The Rainbow Cubby House	Brenna Harding and Vicki Harding
The Sissy Duckling	Harvey Fierstein
The Tales of Zebedy-Do-Dah	Georgina Crawford
The True Adventures of Esther the Wonder Pig	Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter, and Caprice Crane
The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption	Jean, Elaine Okimoto, Aoki
The Zero Dads Club	Angel Adeyoha
They She He Me: Free to Be!	Matthew SG Gonzalez, Maya
This Day in June	Gayle Pitman
This Is My Family: A First Look at Same-Sex Parents	Pat Thomas
Tiger Flowers	Patricia Quinlan
Time to Get Up, Time to Go	David Milgrim
Toby’s Doll’s House	Ragnhild Scamell
Too Far Away to Touch	Lesléa Newman
Tough Eddie	Elizabeth Winthrop
Tutus Aren’t My Style	Linda Skeers
Two Moms, The Zark, and Me	Johnny Valentine
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding	Sarah Brannen
Uncle What-Is-It Is Coming to Visit!!	Michael Willhoite
Vincent the Vixen	Alice Reeves
We Are Family	Patricia Hegarty
Welcome to the Family	Mary Hoffman
What Makes a Baby	Cory Silverberg
When Grown-Ups Fall in Love	Barbara Edmonds
When Megan Went Away	Jane Severance
When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community	Gayle Pitman
Whisper Whisper Jesse, Whisper Whisper Josh: A Story about AIDS	Eileen Pollack
White Dynamite and Curly Kidd	Bill Martin and John Archambault
Who Are You?: The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity	Brook Pressin-Whedbee
Who’s in a Family?	Robert Skutch
William’s Doll	Charlotte Zolotow
Willow and the Wedding	Denise Brennan-Nelson
Wishful Wedding: A Pocketful of Pride	A.S. Chung
Worm Loves Worm	J.J. Austrian
X: A Fabulous Child Story	Lois Gould
Your family, My Family	Joan Drescher
Yuck! That’s Not a Monster	Angela McAllister
Zack’s Story: Growing Up with Same-Sex Parents	Keith Greenberg

Hubert Izienicki is an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Purdue University Northwest.

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