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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Bedtime for Baby Teddy
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Bedtime for Baby Teddy

Creator

Tamara Arc-Dekker; illustrated by Jenni Boettcher

Date

Published 2002

Format

Book

An Australian picture book for very young children of lesbian parents.

Children of gay parentsTwo mothersLesbian couplesBedtimeAustralian children's booksInfant and toddler books
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

Bedtime for Baby Teddy is an Australian picture book written by Tamara Arc-Dekker and illustrated by Jenni Boettcher. The National Library of Australia records a 2002 publication by Rainbow Babies Books in Malvern, Victoria, and describes the book as for babies and young children of lesbian parents. The local collection record describes a baby teddy bear and two teddy mothers doing ordinary bedtime and caregiving activities. The item is modest in public evidence, but its audience is important: it brings same-sex-parent representation into the earliest end of children's reading.[2][3][1][4]

Australian Small-Press Context

The National Library of Australia places the book in Malvern, Victoria, with Rainbow Babies Books. That setting is part of the item's significance. It shows that books for children of lesbian parents were not only a North American or British small-press phenomenon, but also appeared in Australian family and early-childhood publishing.[2][4]

Infant-Reader Scale

Library metadata describes the book for babies and young children of lesbian parents. That audience changes the interpretive scale. Rather than explaining family difference to school-age children, the book appears to normalize two-mother care through ordinary routines, teddy-bear figures, and bedtime familiarity.[2][1]

Series Trace

The local collection record notes a projected Baby Teddy series and describes back-cover and final-page series language. Public catalog traces, however, mainly surface this title. That imbalance makes the held copy especially important as evidence of a planned publishing program around lesbian-parent family life for very young readers.[1][2][3]

Timeline

  1. 2002Australian publicationThe National Library of Australia records the book as published by Rainbow Babies Books in Malvern, Victoria.[2]
  2. 2003Metadata variationOpen Library preserves an edition record with the same ISBN and a later listed publication date.[3]
  3. 2011Checklist circulationA children's-books checklist includes Bedtime for Baby Teddy among picture books portraying LGBT parents.[4]

Edition And Object History

Public catalog evidence identifies one main edition trail; the collection copy can clarify series statements and cover details.

2002

Rainbow Babies Books edition

National Library of Australia metadata gives ISBN 0958134901 and an unpaged illustrated book.

Explore Connections

Browse direct links, shared themes, and nearby publication dates.

Linked records

Two-mother bedtime books

Manu se va a la cama / Manu's Bedtime

Both items use bedtime routines to make two-mother family life legible for very young readers.

References [4][2]

Board-book scale

Mom, Mama, and Me

Both records belong to the early-childhood end of the collection, where ordinary care routines carry much of the representational work.

References [4][2]

Shared themes

Two mothers

Gloria Goes to Gay Pride

An Alyson Wonderland picture book that places a child-facing story in the public setting of Gay Pride.

Children of gay parents

How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?

An Alyson Wonderland story about children deciding how to speak about gay and lesbian parents at school.

Children of gay parents

How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?

An Alyson Wonderland story about children deciding how to speak about gay and lesbian parents at school.

Children of gay parents

Zack's Story: Growing Up with Same-Sex Parents

A photo-illustrated account of an eleven-year-old boy living with his mother and her female partner.

Nearby dates

Published 2002

A Clear Spring

A Feminist Press girls' fiction record in which queer relatives appear inside a genre story rather than as a formal lesson.

Published 2002

Felicia's Favorite Story

A Two Lives picture book in which a child asks her two mothers to retell the story of her adoption from Guatemala.

Published 2002

Going to Fair Day

An Australian Learn to Include early reader presenting same-sex-parent families through ordinary child activities.

English edition 2002/2003

King and King

A Dutch fairy-tale picture book, translated into English, in which a prince marries a prince.

Citation

Bedtime for Baby Teddy. Tamara Arc-Dekker; illustrated by Jenni Boettcher. Rainbow Babies Books, 2002. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-028.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

  1. Local collection catalog record for Bedtime for Baby Teddy · catalog
  2. National Library of Australia catalog record for Bedtime for Baby Teddy · library_catalog
  3. Open Library edition record for Bedtime for Baby Teddy · bibliographic
  4. Children's Books Portraying LGBT Parents checklist · bibliography
  5. Calhoun School gender and sexuality diversity book list · bibliography
  6. National Centre for Australian Children's Literature IDAHOBIT book list · bibliography