Picture Books with Gay Parents

  • December 12, 2009 7:29 am

Asha's MumsA New York school librarian has compiled a list of over 80 picture books featuring gay parents and/or a gay theme. Gay-Themed Picture Books for Children lists books from large publishers and small, and even some publishers outside the U.S.

Included are many books like Asha’s Mums, featuring gay parents. Also included are books in which children deal with relatives or close friends who are infected with AIDS; several books about non-traditional families in general; books in which gay parents adopt a child; and a few books about boys who are teased for being a “sissy.”

The list is so long that it seems somewhat overwhelming at first, but if you scroll down and look on the right side, you will see that the books are categorized, so if you’re looking for books about, for example, lesbian mothers and their sons, you can click on that link and up pops three relevant titles.

The site also has links to other gay-themed book lists.

The list is compiled by Patricia Sarles of the Jerome Parker Campus Library in Staten Island, New York.

Playing War, by Kathy Beckwith

  • December 5, 2009 7:21 am

playing warA group of five children (four boys and a girl) decide, one summer day, to play “war” with pine cones for bombs, and sticks for guns. One boy, who has recently come to the United States from another (unnamed) country, starts to play but decides to go home when his friend Luke declares, “I’m going to blow their heads off.”

The next day, Luke suggests playing war again, and wishes he could be in a real war. Sameer reveals that, in his home country, he lived in the middle of a war, during which a bomb destroyed his house and killed his parents and brother. The friends are shocked at Sameer’s story of the tragedy of war. Luke decides that they ought to play basketball instead.

This picture book reveals the horrors of war in a gentle, sympathetic way. It would be a good book to get elementary-school kids talking about issues of war and peace.

You can buy this book from my boys list.

Rose O’Neill: The Girl Who Loved to Draw

  • November 21, 2009 6:40 am

Rose O'NeillI had never heard of Rose O’Neill before picking up this book, although I was familiar with “kewpies,” her most famous creation.

Rose O’Neill was a commercial illustrator and comic artist in the early 1900s, at a time when most commercial illustrators were men.

This children’s biography of Rose O’Neill concentrates on her childhood. Her father was a bookseller who had difficulty supporting his growing family, so Rose and her siblings moved often and lived in small, cramped homes in Nebraska and Missouri. However, the family was happy together. Rose never had formal art lessons: she taught herself to draw by copying illustrations from the stacks of books always around the house. 

When she was 13, one of her drawings won a prize from an Omaha newspaper. At the age of 19, she went to New York City to begin her career as a freelance illustrator for magazines and books. In 1909, when she was 35, she created the first kewpie character for Ladies Home Journal. This character proved so popular that Rose wrote and illustrated weekly kewpie stories and cartoons, and oversaw the manufacture of a kewpie doll.

Rose’s wealth allowed her to support her parents and siblings. Rose worked for the right of women to vote, and she mentored young artists.

This 68-page biography is in an oversized 10″ x 12″ format. It is lavishly illustrated with over 100 drawings and photographs. The author, Linda Brewster, skillfully pairs Rose’s adult drawings with the childhood events that may have inspired them. The book is based on Rose’s unpublished memoirs, so the writing comes alive with dialogue and Rose’s memories.

You can buy this book from my girls list.

New Moon Girls magazine

  • November 7, 2009 9:02 am

New Moon magazineI just received an e-mail from a founder of New Moon Girls, which, since the early 1990s, has published a wonderful, girl-edited, advertising-free  magazine for girls ages 8-14. The magazine is now in financial trouble and may close at the end of this year.

I would like to invite my visitors to contribute or subscribe to New Moon Girls magazine and help keep its doors open.

Unlike most magazines for girls, this one has no diet advice, no fashion features, and no advertising.  It’s a  full-color, fun magazine edited by a group of girls in Duluth, Minnesota, with the help of an adult staff. The most recent issue features: an article about an Iraqi girl who, at the age of 17, started that country’s first National Youth Orchestra; world records set by women; hidden pictures; an interview with author Madeleine L’Engle; a science project about cloning; an advice column with questions and answers from girls; and opinions, art, and fiction by girls.

Please check out New Moon Girls and, if you can, sign up for a subscription or make a donation.

The Goat Lady, by Jane Bregoli

  • October 31, 2009 12:45 pm

The Goat LadyThe cover of The Goat Lady captured my attention right away: a full-length, detailed portrait of a strong, cheerful elderly woman in baggy clothes, with a goat by her side. How often does one see a carefully-done portrait featuring an older woman who is clearly not wealthy?

The book tells the true story of Noelie Houle, a French Canadian who found work in a Massachusetts factory as a young woman. When she developed arthritis, a doctor suggested she try drinking goat’s milk. She bought a goat, found the cure worked, and added to her flock, giving away extra goats to Heifer International, a nonprofit organization which donates farm animals to the poor. 

Yet her neighbors did not see Noelie’s determination and selflessness. They only saw her run-down house and her unruly animals.

One day, two children befriend Noelie and visit her often to help with the chores. The children tell their mother, an artist, about Noelie, and the mother decides to paint a series of portraits of the over 90-year-old woman. Once the paintings are shown in the town hall, the neighbors come to see Noelie’s strength and character, and to appreciate her way of life.

To me, this book is really about two strong, determined, forward-looking woman: Noelie Houle, and the author, Jane Bregoli, who took the time to see beyond the conventional stereotype of a poor old woman, and to showcase what was beautiful and special about her.

The story is told through the eyes of one of the author’s children, and is illustrated with several portraits of Noelie, as well as other pictures showing scenes of her home, animals, and her interactions with the author’s children.

This is a very special book, and I highly recommend it. You can purchase it from my girls list.