Here are 100 books that Love Makes a Family fans have personally recommended if you like
Love Makes a Family.
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I strive to help children not only accept but also celebrate their own uniqueness. For a long time, we were told that same-sex relationships and gender non-conformity were not natural because they don’t occur in animals. When I began to research same-sex behavior in animals, I learned this couldn’t be further from the truth. Same-sex behaviors have been found in almost every species that has been extensively studied. I knew I could create a fun, gentle, child-friendly introduction to these concepts that challenges the notion that LGBTQ+ behaviors are unnatural.
I have a Master's in biology with a focus on conservation through storytelling.
I grew up in NJ, so I visited the Central Park Zoo as a child.
I still remember when I first learned about Silo and Roy adopting Tango. Who knew such a sweet story would turn into one of the most banned books of the last two decades?
I still get teary-eyed when reading this heart-warming story. I’ve been hoping for years that they would create a follow-up story about Tango, who grew up and cared for an egg with another female penguin!
I suspect that this book has inspired the many zookeepers around the world who now give other same-sex penguin couples a chance to adopt eggs.
One of the six political books for kids you should definitely read according to Zoe Williams in the Guardian, November 2018!
Roy and Silo are just like the other penguin couples at the zoo - they bow to each other, walk together and swim together. But Roy and Silo are a little bit different - they're both boys.
Then, one day, when Mr Gramzay the zookeeper finds them trying to hatch a stone, he realises that it may be time for Roy and Silo to become parents for real.
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
I strive to help children not only accept but also celebrate their own uniqueness. For a long time, we were told that same-sex relationships and gender non-conformity were not natural because they don’t occur in animals. When I began to research same-sex behavior in animals, I learned this couldn’t be further from the truth. Same-sex behaviors have been found in almost every species that has been extensively studied. I knew I could create a fun, gentle, child-friendly introduction to these concepts that challenges the notion that LGBTQ+ behaviors are unnatural.
I have a Master's in biology with a focus on conservation through storytelling.
I enjoyed the mix of humans and animals to demonstrate “there are lots of different ways to be a family.”
Child-like drawings of humans highlight diversity by straying away from realistic representations of skin color and instead using a range of bright colors like pink, orange, purple, and yellow.
The animal families add humor to the story, making it more playful and enjoyable for the child reader. By treating human and animal families the same, it also subtly reminds us that we are part of the larger animal family, extending the concepts of empathy and compassion towards all beings, human and animal.
Some families have two moms or two dads. Some families have one parent instead of two. Some families live in a house by themselves. Some families share a house with other families. All families can help each other be strong!
The Family Book celebrates families and all the different varieties they come in. Whether they're big or small, look alike or different, have a single parent or two, Todd Parr assures readers that every family is special in its own unique way.
As a gay father of two transracially adopted daughters, I am constantly searching for books that feature families like mine. It is important for children to see families that look like theirs represented in their storybooks. Unfortunately, there is a limited number of children’s books spotlighting adoption and even less featuring LGBTQ+ families. I am happy to share this list of some of my favorites that represent diverse/LGBTQ+ families.
This book gets triple points in my opinion, as it specifically addresses adoption by two dads who are an interracial couple. There are very few children’s books that cover all of these topics and even fewer that do it as simplistic and easy as this one. We have this one in our personal library and it has been one of our go-to books for helping our own daughter who my husband and I adopted.
Having Two Dads is double the fun! Many families are different, this family has Two Dads. A beautifully illustrated, affirming story of life with Two Dads, written from the perspective of their adopted child.
“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.
At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…
As a gay father of two transracially adopted daughters, I am constantly searching for books that feature families like mine. It is important for children to see families that look like theirs represented in their storybooks. Unfortunately, there is a limited number of children’s books spotlighting adoption and even less featuring LGBTQ+ families. I am happy to share this list of some of my favorites that represent diverse/LGBTQ+ families.
This is the first book to feature gay grandfathers, an overlooked and under-represented population in the literature. It is based on the author’s actual family experience, which allows the reader to experience the real emotions experienced by the characters. The author carefully takes the reader on a journey that will be relatable to anyone with an LGBTQ+ family member. This is a story that needs to be told and Schanke and Schanke do it beautifully.
Katy's world is so much brighter because of her gay grampas! She is SO excited to bring them to school for Grandparent's Day. However, Katy discovers that she has to introduce them to the class. Katy has a lisp and is terrified everyone will make fun of her, usually choosing to remain silent. Discover how the help of her big sister and support of her grampas gives Katy the confidence to speak in front of the class and introduce the class to two of her favorite people.
Katy Has Two Grampas is based on a true story, featuring dynamic and…
I strive to help children not only accept but also celebrate their own uniqueness. For a long time, we were told that same-sex relationships and gender non-conformity were not natural because they don’t occur in animals. When I began to research same-sex behavior in animals, I learned this couldn’t be further from the truth. Same-sex behaviors have been found in almost every species that has been extensively studied. I knew I could create a fun, gentle, child-friendly introduction to these concepts that challenges the notion that LGBTQ+ behaviors are unnatural.
I have a Master's in biology with a focus on conservation through storytelling.
I adore Brooke Smart’s illustrations, which bring this sweet rhyming text to life.
This book highlights not only the diversity of families but also the different activities families may enjoy doing together, like going to the beach, cartwheeling down the hall, staying in and playing games, or dancing to old jams with grandpa.
This charmingly heartfelt board book is for families: families who cook together and families who sing together, families with lots of members and families with a special few, families who live together and families who live separately - for all families. Celebrate the differences that make each family unique and the similarities and love that connect us all together.
I strive to help children not only accept but also celebrate their own uniqueness. For a long time, we were told that same-sex relationships and gender non-conformity were not natural because they don’t occur in animals. When I began to research same-sex behavior in animals, I learned this couldn’t be further from the truth. Same-sex behaviors have been found in almost every species that has been extensively studied. I knew I could create a fun, gentle, child-friendly introduction to these concepts that challenges the notion that LGBTQ+ behaviors are unnatural.
I have a Master's in biology with a focus on conservation through storytelling.
With the humor of the Langs' beloved Grumpy Monkey series, anthropomorphized animals show us “all kinds of families”.
A two-dad chicken family, a single-mom octopus, a great-grandma turtle, bunny cousins, a Boynton-esque hippo family with too many pets, a robot butler, and more show us loving each other makes a family a family.
From the creators of the picture-book sensation Grumpy Monkey comes a hilarious celebration of families of all stripes!
Lots of nontraditional family structures are celebrated in this super-fun and super-accessible board book! Kids will love finding their own family represented, no matter if they have two moms, one grandpa, or just a cousin named Doug.
The brilliant creative team behind Grumpy Monkey wanted a simple book they could use to talk with their kids about the different kinds of families they would encounter in the world--so they made this! A silly and positive introduction to open-mindedness and all kinds of…
When I started writing children’s stories in 2018, I never would've guessed that my first book would be about rainbow babies. I hadn’t even heard of the term until I miscarried the following year. As I grieved the baby we would never hold, I used writing to work through the mess of emotions I felt: pain, disappointment, sorrow… until the words “Dear Rainbow Baby” appeared. My husband and I didn’t know if we could or would have a rainbow baby, yet, writing a letter filled me with hope that one day she would come. We recently celebrated our daughter’s second birthday, and the publication of my first picture book Dear Rainbow Baby.
Welcome to the Party takes a different twist on bringing home a baby by likening the event to a party. The rhyming text makes it an easy read aloud for parents and caregivers while the illustrations add heart and humor. The book has wide appeal for anyone reading to a new baby but will be especially meaningful to parents of rainbow babies.
Praised by fan favorites including Hoda Kotb, Kim & Khloe Kardashian, and Jimmy Fallon!
Inspired by the eagerly awaited birth of her daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning actress Gabrielle Union pens a festive and universal love letter from parents to little ones, perfect for welcoming a baby to the party of life!
Reminiscent of favorites such as The Wonderful Things You'll Be by Emily Winfield Martin, I've Loved You Since Forever by Hoda Kotb, and Take Heart, My Child by Ainsley Earhardt, Welcome to the Party is an upbeat celebration of new life…
When I started writing children’s stories in 2018, I never would've guessed that my first book would be about rainbow babies. I hadn’t even heard of the term until I miscarried the following year. As I grieved the baby we would never hold, I used writing to work through the mess of emotions I felt: pain, disappointment, sorrow… until the words “Dear Rainbow Baby” appeared. My husband and I didn’t know if we could or would have a rainbow baby, yet, writing a letter filled me with hope that one day she would come. We recently celebrated our daughter’s second birthday, and the publication of my first picture book Dear Rainbow Baby.
I love all of Nancy Tillman’s picture books. I love her imaginative illustrations, depicting children living their wildest dreams, befriending animals, and romping through nature. This book is a sweet, sentimental reminder of how amazing it is to have a child. This book is sure to touch the hearts of all parents, especially at the end when the author reminds us that “the reverse is true—I also belong to you.”
Bestselling author/artist Nancy Tillman celebrates the lifelong bond between parent and child. Not just about newborns, Because You're Mine stands as a testament to a parent's protection and support of their child through all ages and stages.
The clouds can blow, the wind can call, the snow can come, the rain can fall- but they’ll just have to wait in line . . .
Because you’re mine. Because you’re mine.
Like Love You Forever, this is sure to be an evergreen gift and a new classic.
About thirty years ago, I spent three months on an Indo-American Fellowship in Varanasi taking notes on daily life in this holy city where my novel Sister India is set. That winter felt like a separate life within my life, a bonus. Because all there was so new to me, and it was unmediated by cars, television, or computers, I felt while I was there so much more in touch with the physical world, what in any given moment I could see, hear, smell…. It was the way I had felt as a child, knowing close-up particular trees and shrubs, the pattern of cracks in a sidewalk.
The sensory quality of stories of India is inevitable because the country itself is so vividly alive to all the senses. And Hinduism, the predominant religion, is, more than other religions, expressed in physical images and rituals. Suri’s novel treats motherhood in particular in finely observed physical detail, conveying the emotions so well through the senses. A reader irresistibly immerses in the story.
The Age of Shiva is at once a powerful story of a country in turmoil and an "unflinchingly honest" portrait of maternal love-"intricately interwoven with the ancient rites and myths" (Booklist) crucial to India's history. Meera, the narrator, is seventeen years old when she catches her first glimpse of Dev, performing a song so infused with passion that it arouses in her the first flush of erotic longing. She wonders if she can steal him away from Roopa, her older, more beautiful sister, who has brought her along to see him. It is only when her son is born that…
I'm a picture book author living in Los Angeles with my husband and two children. I love seeing the world through my children’s eyes and began writing stories for and inspired by them after they were born. Watching their relationships flourish with their grandparents and the grown-ups in their lives inspired me to write books that celebrate family and foster connection. My grandmas both live overseas and I treasure the time I spend with them. Just like my own children, the simplest moments together are the ones I hold onto and carry with me the most. I love books that celebrate these magical relationships and hope these books encourage readers to celebrate their own relationships.
It can be hard when our loved ones have to travel, but as Love, Mama shows, love stretches across distances when we can’t be right next to one another. Love, Mama features Kipling, a young penguin who is sad when his mother has to travel, he knows that she will come back but can’t help missing her. He tries to replace her with pillow Mama but it just isn’t the same. A heartwarming reminder of how strong a Mother’s love for her child is and the perfect gift for the traveling working mama this Mother’s Day.
When Mama leaves her young penguin, Kipling, he knows she'll return home soon - yet he still can't help but miss her. After all, Pillow Mama won't read, Picture Mama won't laugh, and Snow Mama is too cold to cuddle. But then Kipling receives a special delivery from Mama, including a note that reads: My love for you stretches across the wide ocean, through day and night, from earth to sky and back again. And Kipling knows that no matter where Mama is, he is loved. Soon, Mama comes home, and Kipling ends the day where he belongs - right…
