Inclusive, socially liberal children's books?
I want to make sure that my daughter, from the very beginning, is made aware that families and couples and people in general come in many varieties, and that that's okay. What are some good children's books with non-traditional families, persons, or ideals?
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"Free to Be You and Me"
"Daddy's Roommate"
"And Tango Makes Three"
"Molly's Family"
There's also "Free To Be a Family," which I stumbled upon at the thrift store.
There are books ABOUT families:
"The Family Book," by Todd Parr
"ABC: A Family Alphabet Book," by Bobbie Combs
And books about (not ABOUT) families:
"And Tango Makes Three," by Peter Parnell
"Uncle Bobby's Wedding," by Sarah Brannen
"The Different Dragon," by Jennifer Bryan
We don't need no stereotyped gender roles!
"William's Doll," by Charlotte Zolotov
"The Sissy Duckling," by Harvey Fierstein
"The Paper Bag Princess," by Robert Munsch
I should say that, as a sometime care-giver for the adopted two-year-old daughter of a lesbian couple, a lot of these books are along the lines of "gay is okay!" and there are obviously more kinds of families and people and sorts of inclusiveness - these are just the ones that came to mind.
Livvy (said two-year-old) and I really like them, though. We point at all the mamas in them, because if there's one thing she knows about, it's mamas.
When she gets older, Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume. Very different in some ways because of the time periods, but good general values and writing.
A great book about accepting others and valueing their diffrences, though not about families is Tacky the Penguin.
When she is older, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is a great series about an independent princess who chooses her own husband and has a egalitarian marriage.
Joan
Does she need books to tell her that?
School is a good learning ground: many (most?) of her friends will be from divorced households, many will be from fatherless homes, and there is bound to be someone with two daddies or two mommies, no?
I think it's important to find books, movies, etc with these messages, because the vast majority of kids books and programming has the opposite message and only portrays hetero nuclear families, mostly white, with a male default, etc. So I do think parents have to actively seek out exceptions to this rule or kids silently absorb the implicit message that families only look like one thing.
Note that I did not say I merely want books that will teach my daughter about different sorts of people. I said that I want books that will teach my daughter about different sorts of people, and the fact that those differences are okay. Seeing that something exists out in the world is not the same as being taught that that thing is acceptable and good.
There's a great book that I've been trying to find ever since you posted this, and I just can't seem to find it. It's a picture book about a little boy who sees these amazing things in the clouds, and he keeps trying to get his family's attention but they're all busy. So that's the main plot, but the stuff they're all busy with is really cool and non-stereotyped: I think mom is in the garage building something, and grandma has a job at the post office, I forget what dad does. Does anybody know this book? I searched Amazon for books about clouds, but I don't think "cloud" is actually in the title. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful! Just keep going to the library, and make friends with the children's librarian if you can. They can be a great resource for this kind of thing.
Thanks -- I didn't even thinking of asking a librarian. Silly me! Anyway, I will keep a look out for a book like that. It sounds great.