Celebrating love and identity

Books are a great way to introduce kids to LGBTQ+ issues and identities.

Ritu weds Chandni

The conversations about LGBTQ+(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning) issues and identities have grown over the last decade, and they have naturally found their way into children’s books.
However, not many people know about these books. Many schools are wary about including them in their libraries, and the reason they give is that parents will object. Parents hesitate to buy them for their children, saying that kids will not understand, or that it will “put ideas into children’s heads.”

Now here’s the thing. Children are very accepting of ideas of any kind. If you don’t make a big deal out of it, they won’t either. Avoiding this subject will not make it go away. Being informed about these conversations prepares a child for whatever is to come: to understand themselves, to be a good friend to someone who needs one, and to be informed and aware in a world where conversations about LGBTQ+ identities are becoming commonplace.

Here are some books that could introduce children to these conversations, and help adults feel more comfortable talking to children (and each other!) about them.

Heather has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman/Laura Cornell is more than 30 years old, and is a simple, sweet introduction to a family with two mothers.

Ritu Weds Chandni by Ameya Narvankar talks about a wedding, the family’s disapproval, and a child’s questions about it all.

In Guthli has Wings by Kanak Shashi, Guthli asks: “Why do you keep saying I’m a boy when I’m a girl?”

In Friends Under the Summer Sun by Ashutosh Pathak/Kanak Shashi, free to read on StoryWeaver, the little girl asks her neighbour, “Are you a girl or a boy?” and the neighbour answers, “Does it matter?”

Red: A Crayon’s Story is a funny, sweet story of a blue crayon labelled red by mistake. Anybody who has faced certain expectations from others, when they feel differently, will relate to this story!

The best way to normalise LGBTQ+ identities is to include the characters in familiar stories, in familiar, commonplace settings without making them a big issue. A great example is Reva and Prisha by Shals Mahajan, illustrations by Lavanya Karthik. It has light, slice-of-life stories of two sisters who just happen to have two mothers.

Books like My Friends and Me by Stephanie Stansbie/Katy Halford and A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O’Leary/Qin Leng show a child that there can be many different kinds of families.

Older children, who are more curious and want to dig deeper, might want to read books like Best At It by Maulik Pancholy, Talking of Muskaan by Himanjali Sankar and It Has No Name by Payal Dhar.

If you find it hard to get your hands on these books, ask at a children’s library or an independent children’s bookstore like Funky Rainbow and Lightroom in Bengaluru, for recommendations. Most of them are informed and open and will suggest books just right for what you or your children need.

The author has written 12 books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com

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