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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Archived cover image for the Cookin' in the Kitchen / Day at the Zoo activity book.

Image from archived FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com page via the Internet Archive.

Image source

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 2

Creator

FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com

Date

Published 2006

Format

Book

A coloring and activity book about two adoptive families with same-sex parents.

AdoptionTwo fathersTwo mothersColoring booksActivity booksWeb-native small press
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 2 is cataloged as a 2006 coloring and activity book from FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com. The local record identifies a lavender-background cover and describes two recurring child characters: Jaxon, who has two adoptive mothers, and Jenna, who has two adoptive fathers. An archived storefront confirms that the project sold coloring books built around Jenna and Jaxon, with puzzles, coloring pages, and family activities. The public evidence is limited, but the item preserves an important form: hands-on family representation made for children with LGBTQ parents.[1][2][3][4]

Activity-Book Form

The archived storefront describes coloring books with mazes, puzzles, coloring pages, and recipes. That form is important. It made LGBTQ-family representation interactive and domestic, tying family recognition to ordinary child activities rather than only to narrative explanation or classroom discussion.[3]

Two-Family Pairing

The local and archived descriptions both point to a paired structure: Jenna and her two fathers, and Jaxon and his two mothers. The pairing matters because it presents gay-father and lesbian-mother households together, making adoption and same-sex parenting part of a shared family vocabulary.[1][2][3]

Web-Native Publishing

FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com appears as both a credited creator and a storefront. The archived pages frame the project through products for lesbian and gay parents rather than through a conventional trade publisher. That makes the item useful evidence of early web-based family publishing and direct-to-parent circulation.[2][3]

Timeline

  1. 2006Cataloged publication yearThe local catalog and later checklist evidence place the Families Like Yours and Mine volumes in 2006.[1][4]
  2. 2007Archived site copyrightThe archived Families Like Yours and Mine home page carries a 2007 copyright line for the project.[2]
  3. 2008Archived storefrontThe Internet Archive preserves the shopping page with descriptions and cover images for the coloring books.[3]

Edition And Object History

The item is part of a two-volume activity-book pair from Families Like Yours and Mine.

2006

Lavender-background volume

The local record identifies this item by its lavender-background cover and as part of the two-volume set.

2006

Companion green-background volume

The companion record preserves the same characters and family structures in a second activity book.

Explore Connections

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

Linked records

Companion volume

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 1

The two collection items form a companion pair of coloring and activity books built around Jenna, Jaxon, adoption, food, farms, and family outings.

References [1][3]

Coloring-book lineage

Families, a Coloring Book

Both records use coloring-book form to invite children's participation in representing families with same-sex parents.

References [4][3]

Adoption and family activities

Fostering and Adoption (Let's Talk About)

The Families Like Yours and Mine pair connects same-sex parenting to adoption stories and child-facing family activities.

References [1][4]

Shared themes

Adoption

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 1

A coloring and activity book about adoption and same-sex-parent family life.

Two mothers

Families, a Coloring Book

A Michael Willhoite coloring book that presents many family structures, including two mothers and two fathers.

Two mothers

All Families Are Different

A nonfiction activity book that explains many family forms, including families with same-sex parents.

Two fathers

My Family, Your Family, Our Family

A community coloring book representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parent families.

Nearby dates

Spanish edition, 2006

Aitor tiene dos mamas

A Spanish edition of a Basque two-mother family story about school bullying, language, and public recognition.

Published 2006

At My House What Makes a Family is Love

An AuthorHouse picture book presenting many kinds of families, including two-mother and two-father households.

Published 2006

Buster's Sugartime

A Postcards from Buster book tie-in connected to a public broadcasting dispute over two-mother family representation.

2006

Emma and the Magic Moose

A fantasy picture book about a girl, a magic journey, and a return to her two mothers.

Citation

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 2. FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com. Families Like Yours and Mine, 2006. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-039.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

Image from archived FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com page via the Internet Archive.

  1. Local collection catalog record for Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 2 · catalog
  2. Archived FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com home page · archive
  3. Archived FamiliesLikeYoursAndMine.com shopping page · archive
  4. Children's Books Portraying LGBT Parents checklist · bibliography