Arts
Come Out, Come Out: M. Signorile's Queer in America
Families Count: More Tales from the Rainbow Library
Families
Count:
More Faerie Tales from the Rainbow Library
by Neth Urkiel-Taylor
A
lot of children's picture books about families that include queer community
images are also activity oriented. For instance, Who's in a Family
by Robert Skutch lightly explores ethnicity and composition of family
groups. The book invites us to create or collect pictures of our parents,
siblings, relatives, friends, guardians or care givers.
One of the original queer family books for
children was printed as a coloring book. Children's book author/illustrator
Michael Willhoite illustrated many types of families in Families
(a coloring book). As an adoptee, I am glad that both this book and The
Family Book by author/illustrator Todd Parr make reference to adoption.
Both Michael and Todd illustrate in animated and eye-pleasing styles.
However, Todd's book is a bit heavy on the hetero and depicts queer families
very little.
If you want to see almost exclusively queer
families in a child's picture book it would be better to stay with two
books published by Two Lives Publishing. The first, A B C - A Family
Alphabet is a winner. Not only do we see queer families living their
lives, but we get to learn our alphabet. The lively illustrations of Desiree
Keane and Brian Rappa are superb. Interestingly, little queer subtext
is added to the book - S is not for snap, D is not for Drag Queen, F is
not for Fabulous (although this book is).
The second book, 1 2 3 - A Family Counting
Book lacks in visual appeal. The illustrations by Danamarie Hosler
are rather muddy and appear unfinished. However, the illustrations do
depict the physical closeness of same sex relationships better than any
of the other family picture books. A big thanks to Two Lives and publisher/
author Bobbie Combs for seeing these books into print.
Coloring pages, creating/collecting
family pictures, learning numbers or the alphabet are all active invitations
for us and our children to spend more time absorbing queer family images
rarely offered in many children’s books. None of these books use
the words "queer," "gay," or "lesbian" when
describing the two-mom or two-dad illustrations. As well, none of these
books focuses solely on the two-mom, two-dad and child(ren) equal a family
model. There is room for grandparents, aunts, uncles and animals. A
B C - A Family Alphabet says it best: F is for Family and R is for
Rainbow. As they well should be.
Neth is currently involved in The Rainbow Library, a Vermont resource
for queer themed picture books, videos, and family information. Library
staff is willing to facilitate reading circles with your friends and family,
group, school or organization. Call 652-0878 to learn how you can become
involved, to get a bibliography, or to learn more about the library.