Every Family Should Read These Lovely LGBTQ+ Children's Books

Daddy, Papa, & Me makes a great book for young children thanks to its sweet illustrations and rhyming text that shows children all the fun a newborn has with its two dads. From goodnight kisses to hide-and-seek, kids will learn that no matter who their parents are, they just want to be the best parents they can be.

All Bailey thinks about is dresses, but no one seems to understand his fascination. No one but an older girl named Laurel who helps Bailey embrace his sartorial style and be brave enough to share it with others in 10,000 Dresses.

For any child who has ever felt different, The Boy with the Rainbow Heart is a great book to share. Using his rainbow heart this special boy shares love and kindness to turn the town of Gray into Shine.

Written for grades 4th through 8th, Daddy’s Roommate is about a boy dealing with his parents divorce and the subsequent discovery that his father is gay. This book shows that being gay is ok and something a child can embrace.

Do your children watch reality TV with you? Then they might recognize the author of the sweet I Am Perfectly Designed: Karam Brown from Queer Eye. In this story a boy and his father take a walk and discuss all the ways they are perfectly designed.

What makes a family? Help small children understand with the charming and simple The Family Book that promotes diversity and inclusivity from an early age.

Emma is so excited for her cousin’s wedding. She’s got it all figured out. She’s going to wear a celery green dress and walk down the aisle with the ring bearer, but when she finds out her cousin Hannah has a bride, The Flower Girl Wore Celery becomes a lesson about how there are all different kinds of weddings.

For a book about understanding queer identities that’s designed for young readers, We Are Little Feminists: Families offers a great read. The story features beautiful photos of real LGBTQ+ families to make it even more relatable.

All families, no matter how they look, are special so long as they’re filled with love. That’s at the center of Papa, Daddy, & Riley, which celebrates the diversity of families.

When Julián sees costumed mermaids in real life, he knows what he wants to be: just like them. Julian is a Mermaid celebrates individuality and self-love, something every child should read about.

Normalizing inclusive pronouns is an important step in the fight for inclusion. So start your kids young with They, She, He Easy as ABC, that teaches kids how to properly address their friends with stanzas like “Ari loves to arabesque. They hold their pose with ease. Brody is a break dancer. Brody loves to freeze.”

This picture book, designed for ages preschool to second grade, takes one child’s experience of accepting a new baby in the house shortly after realizing his own identity as a boy, and showcases how one loving family makes room for all of its members. Written by a trans author, When Aidan Became A Brother was named a Best Books of 2019 by School Library Journal.

Described as "a positive and realistic representation of both a wheelchair user and an elderly, interracial gay male couple” by Kirkus, A Plan for Pops makes inclusivity a part of the story without making it the focus when Lou’s Pop is told he must use a wheelchair and Lou’s Pop works to cheer him up.

And Tango Makes Three is based on the true story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo who adopt an egg and take turns sitting on it until it hatches. This sweet animal tale normalizes non-traditional families.

Thuy feels “double different.” Not only is she Vietnamese, she has two moms. And she’s being bullied for her difference. Angry at her circumstances, on a walk home she happens upon a bird who leads her on a walk through other creatures’ footsteps who give her the courage she needs to go on in this My Footprints.

A twist on the typical fairy tale, in The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, this knight in shining armor falls in love with the prince he rescues, not the princess... and they lived happily ever after.

Touching on themes of gender norms and identity, Annie’s Plaid Shirt follows one girl’s frustration when her mom asks her to ditch her beloved plaid shirt for a dress for her uncle’s wedding. Written by a licensed clinical psychologist, the book teaches kids not to compromise themselves for others.

What does a child with two dads do when her class holds a Mother’s Day party? She realizes she has all kinds of family members who help her and decides to bring them all in Stella Brings The Family.

Errol and Thomas are best friends. Will that change when Thomas decides he’s really a girl and prefers to be called Tilly? “I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend,” Errol tells her in Introducing Teddy.

In Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope, Jodie Patterson, the Chair of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Board, shares her own transgender son's experience about coming out and being accepted, from his triumphs to his frustrations.

Plenty of Hugs is a life-affirming book that showcases the love of one family with two mommies as they go about their day with joyful rhymes preschoolers will love like “There's a buzz for each bug, and a breeze for each tree, and plenty of hugs for you and me.”

What’s a worm to do when it wants to marry another worm but all the other insects in the area say this goes against tradition? Worm Loves Worm is the perfect book for Pride Month because it celebrates love in all of its many forms.

What do animal families look like? All are different as Meet My Family! Animal Babies and Their Families, filled with gorgeous illustrations, shows. Some animals have a bunch of brothers and sisters, others are only children. Some, like a pair of chinstrap male penguins, raise a baby penguin together and others have adopted parents.

Heather loves the number two. It stands for her favorite things: her two arms, two legs, two mommies, two pets... this celebration of lesbian love is seen through the eyes of a child in Heather Has Two Mommies.

From the brain trust of Scottish film and stage star Alan Cumming and his husband, illustrator Grant Shaffer, Honey & Leon Take the High Road is their second in a children’s book series about the adventures of their two dogs Honey and Leon. In this one, the two wrestle to figure out how to protect their dads when Honey falls for a Scottish dog named Coll on a trip to the Highlands.

It’s not easy trying to explain equity and inclusion to a child. So when you’re struggling for the right words, turn to this book, An ABC of Equality, an illustrated alphabet of how we all deserve the right to be treated fairly.

Like a love letter to young queer love, From Archie to Zack looks at one boy’s quest to tell another boy how much he loves him, from A to Z.

The title says it all: What About Your Words? This book is all about pronouns. In colorful illustrations it explains how to ask another person’s pronouns and how to figure out one’s own.

Pink is for Boys says bye bye to gender stereotypes and encourages kids to embrace who they are and what they love no matter what that is.

Studying history can help someone understand that they are not alone. That’s why This Day in June is so valuable to young allies. With playful pictures and fun storytelling, this book explains the Pride movement and its history.

Whether you’re an only child, have a bunch of siblings, live with two daddies, or just a cousin named Doug, your family is special because it’s unique. That’s the message of All Kinds of Families.

Teach your child to forget preconceived notions of family and embrace the idea that a family is made up of those you love. This beautifully illustrated book, Who’s in a Family?, gently upends outdated ideas.