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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Cover of My Family! A Multi-Cultural Holiday Coloring Book for Children of LGBT Families.

Cover image from Open Library.

Image source

My Family! A Multi-Cultural Holiday Coloring Book for Children of LGBT Families

Creator

Cheril N. Clarke and Monica Bey-Clarke

Date

Published 2010

Format

Book

A holiday coloring and activity book from the My Family/Keesha group of LGBTQ-family children's materials.

LGBT-parent familiesHoliday booksColoring booksTwo mothersTwo fathersKwanzaa
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

My Family! A Multi-Cultural Holiday Coloring Book for Children of LGBT Families is a Dodi Press / My Family Products activity book associated with the Keesha/My Family group of titles. The publisher page describes it as a multicultural holiday coloring and activity book for children of LGBTQ parents, with pages connected to Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Hanukkah. The local catalog connects it to Keesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming and ABCs with Keesha! My Family!, a group built around everyday family recognition, early literacy, and activity formats. Its importance is partly formal: it documents LGBTQ-parent family representation in a low-cost, participatory object, not only in hardcover picture-book narrative.[2][3][7][1]

Activity-Book Form

The item is not simply a story to be read aloud. It is a coloring and activity book, which means the child marks, colors, and handles the page. That format matters in a special collection because it records a different use pattern from a picture book on a shelf. LGBTQ-family representation here becomes a participatory activity, available for classrooms, community tables, homes, and holiday programming.[2][3][8]

Holiday Representation

The cover and publisher description identify the book with multicultural holidays, while the local catalog names Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Hanukkah imagery. Mombian's discussion of LGBTQ-inclusive holiday books points to the same title as one of the few materials showing LGBTQ families around these seasonal traditions. The item therefore fills a narrow representational space: LGBTQ-parent families in holiday and interfaith visual culture for children.[2][7][1]

Keesha Companion Group

The local catalog treats this title as a companion to Keesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming and ABCs with Keesha! My Family!. The group moves across genres: picture book, alphabet activity, and holiday coloring book. That range is important because it suggests a publisher thinking beyond a single issue book. The materials could support repeated encounters with same-sex-parent households across literacy, play, holidays, and social-emotional themes.[1][4][6][8]

Small-Press Practicality

Public records identify the book with Dodi Press and My Family Products, not a large trade publisher. That small-press setting helps explain the object's specificity. The title is narrow, practical, and aimed at a directly imagined readership: children in LGBTQ-parent families and the adults who teach or care for them. Its modest format is part of its collection value, because such objects often disappear from ordinary library memory.[3][2][6]

Timeline

  1. 2010PublicationPublisher and Open Library records place the holiday coloring book in 2010, with Dodi Press / My Family Products and ISBN 9780976727347.[2][3]
  2. 2011Keesha companion contextKeesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming appeared in public records in 2011 and anchors the companion group named in the local catalog.[4][1]
  3. 2018Holiday-book commentaryMombian cited the coloring book while discussing the limited field of LGBTQ-inclusive holiday books for children.[7]
  4. 2021Welcoming Schools listingHuman Rights Campaign's Welcoming Schools family picture-book resource listed the Keesha titles for young readers.[6]

Companion Materials

The local catalog places the book within a small group of Keesha/My Family titles.

2010

Holiday coloring book

Multicultural holiday activity format for children of LGBTQ-parent families.

2011

Keesha picture-book context

The companion picture book centers Keesha, her two mothers, and everyday social learning.

2021

Educational resource circulation

Welcoming Schools resources continued to circulate Keesha-related family titles for educators.

Explore Connections

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

Linked records

Companion title

Keesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming

The local catalog groups the holiday coloring book with the Keesha picture book, and public reading lists preserve Keesha as an LGBTQ-family classroom title.

References [4][5][6]

Companion activity book

ABCs with Keesha. My Family!

The holiday coloring book belongs with the alphabet activity book as part of a practical My Family Products activity-book group.

References [6][8][1]

Holiday representation

LGBTQ-Inclusive Holiday Books

The title is useful for tracing holiday imagery in LGBTQ-family materials, especially because public commentary identifies this as a thinly represented area.

References [7][2]

Shared themes

Two mothers

Families, a Coloring Book

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

Two fathers

My Family, Your Family, Our Family

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

Two fathers

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 1

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

Two fathers

Families Like Yours and Mine: Volume 2

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

Nearby dates

Published 2010

A Tale of Two Daddies

A VanitaBooks companion picture book using questions and everyday care to present a child with two fathers.

Local catalog records 2010

Children's Books with LGBT Themes

A self-published reference object that helps document how LGBTQ children's books were listed and aggregated.

Published 2010

City Life

A picture book about a child with two mothers moving through ordinary urban activities.

Published 2010

Dad David, Baba Chris and Me

A British adoption and fostering resource book about Ben, his two adoptive fathers, and school bullying.

Citation

My Family! A Multi-Cultural Holiday Coloring Book for Children of LGBT Families. Cheril N. Clarke and Monica Bey-Clarke. Dodi Press / My Family Products, 2010. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-045.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

  1. Local collection catalog record for My Family · catalog
  2. My Family Products page for the holiday coloring book · publisher
  3. Open Library ISBN record for the My Family holiday coloring book · library
  4. Goodreads record for Keesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming · reader_catalog
  5. Keshet list including Keesha & Her Two Moms Go Swimming · resource
  6. Human Rights Campaign Welcoming Schools family picture-book resource · education
  7. Mombian discussion of LGBTQ-inclusive Christmas and holiday books · professional
  8. Mombian post on LGBTQ-inclusive children's activities · professional