LGBTQ+ Books for Children and Teens

In this post, we started to have a better understanding of the history of LGBTQ+ people.
I’d like to explore something different now.

Children are intuitive and not yet tainted by bigoted and narrow minded hate. Receiving education on the topic will help them stay that way.

That being said, I asked myself if some concepts can be hard for them to understand – sometimes they are for adults too! While I was browsing NetGalley, these three titles got my attention:

📖 Pride and Joy
📖 Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride
📖 My Culture, My gender, Me

Let’s dig in!

💫 “Pride and Joy”, by

★★★★☆

First book I read of the trio, and already a hit!

Joy loves her big brother Noah, and when he sees him getting bullied for being gay, she knows she has to act.

Perfect book to explain kids what an ally is, and how to become one. I find particularly important that they stressed the need to ask directly the community how to help, not to appropriate.

At the end parents and guardians can find helpful guidlines on how to approach different topics before, while, and after reading.

💫 “Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride”, by Rebel Girls

★★★★☆

We’ve seen another book of this collection on this blog, and I can confirm that this brand is awesome!

The title is self-explanatory, but it’s not all – you can find more storie on the app you can download on your phone. They offer a lot of resources and platforms. Talking about overkill!

As much as these stories are targeted to queer teenagers, they don’t miss the chance to stress the importance of inclusion and understanding.

I have a feeling that my confusion would have been much easier to navigate had I held a book like this in my hands.

Elena Favilli

💫 “My Culture, My Gender, Me”, by Cassandra Jules Corrigan

★★★★☆

Last but not least!

Exploring gender experienced in various cultures, this book is tageted to queer children with a different heritage.

Thanks to this book I learnt something about my culture I didn’t know!

I think is wholesome that at the end of the book there are practical steps to find one’s heritage out, and how to learn about it, taking into account the possibility that children don’t have a relative to whom to ask.

There is no “right book” when it comes to the topic, and I could have probably found something more related to what I was looking for – yet I feel I’ve been lucky fishing these books blindly out!

They also confirm my believes: there is not a right age at which to introduce the topic, something kids already grasp and might even experience first hand. Two of these books are written to help children understand themselves and be proud of who they are, and all of them promote love and compassion – towards others, towards oneself.

If you’re looking for:

🎯 teaching children how to help the LGBTQ+ community: Pride and Joy
🎯 teaching children about themselves: Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride, and My Culture, My Gender, Me
🎯 inspiring children to be their best selves: Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride

*Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors for an early copy of these books in exchange for an honest review.
**My Culture, My Gender, Me is scheduled to be published on the 21st of September 2023.