Celebrate Pride Month with books highlighting LGBTQ+ characters, experiences, histories, and voices. We hope these selections serve to educate and encourage a dialogue on topics of gender and sexuality from the personal to political, introduce readers to LGBTQ+ authors, and celebrate the joyful diversity of identities, families, and relationships.
Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
Whether you have one parent, two moms, two dads, a mom and a dad, or another wonderful caregiver, there’s one thing that makes a family a family, and that’s love.
Available formats: Book
Worm Loves Worm by J.J. Austrian
Two worms in love decide to get married, and with help from Cricket, Beetle, Spider, and the Bees they have everything they need and more, but which one will be the bride and which the groom?
Available formats: Book
Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer
Stella’s class is having a Mother’s Day celebration, but what’s a girl with two daddies to do? Stella has her Papa and Daddy who take care of her, and a whole gaggle of other loved ones who make her feel special and supported every day. She just doesn’t have a mom to invite to the party. Fortunately, Stella finds a unique solution to her party problem in this sweet story about love, acceptance, and the true meaning of family.
Available formats: Book
Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. What will Abuela think about the mess he makes, and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself? Mesmerizing and full of heart, Jessica Love’s author-illustrator debut is a jubilant picture of self-love and a radiant celebration of individuality.
Available formats: Book, eBook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Audiobook (Hoopla)
When Aiden Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff
When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl’s room, and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of his life that didn’t fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life. Then Mom and Dad announce that they’re going to have another baby, and Aidan wants to do everything he can to make things right for his new sibling from the beginning. Aidan comes to understand that mistakes can be fixed with honesty and communication, and that he already knows the most important thing about being a big brother: how to love with his whole self.
Available formats: Book
This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman
In a wildly whimsical, validating, and exuberant reflection of the LGBT community, this book welcomes readers to experience a pride celebration and share in a day when we are all united. Also included is a Note to Parents and Other Caregivers with information on how to talk to children about sexual orientation and gender identity in age-appropriate ways as well as a Reading Guide full of facts about LGBT history and culture
Available formats: Book
Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima
Harriet loves costumes. She wears them to the dentist, to the supermarket, and most importantly, to her super-special dress-up birthday party. Her dads have decorated everything for the party and Harriet has her most favorite costume all picked out for the big day. There’s just one thing missing—party hats! When Harriet dons her special penguin errand-running costume and sets out to find the perfect ones, she finds something else instead—real penguins! Harriet gets carried away with the flock. She may look like a penguin, but she’s not so sure she belongs in the arctic.
Available formats: Book
Plenty of Hugs by Fran Manushkin
This cheerful book follows a family from morning to night in lively rhyme that rolls off the tongue. The toddler and mommies take a morning bike ride to a farm stand, they visit a zoo in the afternoon, and in the evening there’s the bath and storybook routine before the child is tucked cozily into bed.
Available formats: Book
Neither by Airlie Anderson
In the Land of This and That, there are only two kinds: blue bunnies and yellow birds. But one day a funny green egg hatches, and a little creature that’s not quite a bird and not quite a bunny pops out. Neither tries hard to fit in, but its bird legs aren’t good for jumping like the other bunnies, and its fluffy tail isn’t good for flapping like the other birds. It sets out to find a new home and discovers a very different place, one with endless colors and shapes and creatures of all kinds. This colorful, simple, and touching story promotes diversity and offers a valuable lesson to the youngest of audiences: it is our differences that unite us.
Available formats: Book
BunnyBear by Andrea J. Loney
Although Bunnybear was born a bear, he feels more like a bunny. He prefers bouncing in the thicket to tramping in the forest, and in his heart he’s fluffy and tiny, like a rabbit, instead of burly and loud, like a bear. The other bears don’t understand him, and neither do the bunnies. Bunnybear searches for a friend that will truly understand him.
Available formats: Book, eBook (Hoopla)
A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary
When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways, but the same in the one way that matters most of all. One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One is full of stepsiblings, and another has a new baby. As one by one, her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them, family of every shape, size and every kind of relation, the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, her family is special.
Available formats: Book, eBook (Hoopla)
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others, but their desire for a family was the same. With the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo got the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own.
Available formats: Book
Papa, Daddy, and Riley by Seamus Kirst
Riley is Papa’s princess and Daddy’s dragon. She loves her two fathers! When Riley’s classmate asks her which dad is her real one, Riley is confused. She doesn’t want to have to pick one or the other. Families are made of love in this heartwarming story that shows there are lots of ways to be part of one.
Available formats: Book
Grandad’s Pride by Harry Woodgate
Grandad and Milly are back for another adventure, this time honoring the past and celebrating the future with a pride parade. This heartwarming tale continues to wonderful journey that began with the Stonewall Honoree and Waterstones Best Illustrated Book, Grandad’s Camper.
Available formats: Book
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far from here, there was a prince in line to take the throne, so his parents set out to find him a kind and worthy bride. The three of them traveled the land far and wide, but the prince didn’t quite find what he was looking for in the princesses they met. While they were away, a terrible dragon threatened their land, and all the soldiers fled. The prince rushed back to save his kingdom from the perilous beast and was met by a brave knight in a suit of brightly shining armor. Together they fought the dragon and discovered that special something the prince was looking for all along. This book is published in partnership with GLAAD to accelerate LGBTQ inclusivity and acceptance.
Available formats: Book
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson
Jodie Patterson, activist and Chair of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Board, shares her transgender son’s experience in this important picture book about identity and acceptance. Penelope knows that he’s a boy. (And a ninja.) The problem is getting everyone else to realize it. In this exuberant companion to Jodie Patterson’s adult memoir, The Bold World , Patterson shares her son Penelope’s frustrations and triumphs on his journey to share himself with the world. Penelope’s experiences show children that it always makes you stronger when you are true to yourself and who you really are.
Available formats: Book, eBook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
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