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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Cover of Ulysse et Alice.

Cover image from Communication-Jeunesse.

Image source

Ulysse et Alice

Creator

Ariane Bertouille; illustrated by Marie-Claude Favreau

Date

Published 2006

Format

Book

A French-language Quebec picture book about a child with two mothers and a new pet.

French-language picture booksTwo mothersMany kinds of familiesPetsFamily growthQuebec children's books
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

Ulysse et Alice is a 2006 French-language picture book by Ariane Bertouille and Marie-Claude Favreau, published in Montreal by Editions du remue-menage with Bouton d'or Acadie collaboration. The local record describes Ulysse as a boy with two mothers whose uncle brings him a mouse named Alice. The story uses pet care and explanation to make family structure legible: Ulysse tells Alice about his household, and the book includes an image of different family kinds, including two mothers and two fathers. Publisher and Quebec book-sector sources frame the title as an early Quebec children's album presenting a family with lesbian mothers. The collection value lies in language, geography, and form: a French homoparental picture book where ordinary family growth, pets, and household negotiation carry the representation.[1][2][3][4]

French-Language Homoparental Context

The book's language and publishing context are central to the object. Open Library, Communication-Jeunesse, and the publisher page identify a 2006 Montreal edition, with the remue-menage and Bouton d'or Acadie publication network. The current publisher source presents the title as one of the first Quebec children's albums to depict a family with lesbian mothers. That claim is most useful when phrased as early Quebec evidence, because the source trail supports significance without needing a broader first-in-field assertion.[2][3][4]

Pet Story Structure

The local catalog describes a compact domestic plot: Uncle Dede brings a mouse, Ulysse wants to care for her, and his mothers weigh the practical problem of a new pet in a household with a cat. That plot gives the family representation a child-scale frame. Ulysse's explanation of his two mothers is attached to caring for Alice, not to a public dispute or school lesson. The result is a picture-book strategy in which homoparental family life appears through ordinary negotiation, promise, and responsibility.[1][3][7]

A Page Of Family Kinds

The local record notes a page showing multiple family configurations, including two mothers, two fathers, a traditional family, and a mixed-race family. That detail connects Ulysse et Alice to broad-family books in the collection, even though the central household is Ulysse's two-mother family. Because exact French wording and page placement belong to the held copy, the record keeps the claim at the level of visual and thematic structure. The item is both a lesbian-parent-family story and a family-diversity image record.[1][2][7]

Family Growth Without Inference

The final local-catalog detail is especially important: Ulysse is pictured touching one mother's pregnant belly as the family grows. That moment can be interpreted as family expansion, but the sources do not support claims about donor, adoption, or reproductive method. The record therefore treats pregnancy as a scene of household change rather than a technical origin story. This restraint keeps the book in conversation with adoption and family-formation titles without importing evidence that the dossier explicitly leaves unresolved.[1][4]

Timeline

  1. 2006Montreal publicationOpen Library and Communication-Jeunesse record the French-language publication in Montreal.[2][3]
  2. 2006Collection yearThe local catalog also uses 2006 for the title.[1]
  3. 2007Brussels Book Fair trailCDÉACF preserves a notice about the book's trip to the Brussels Book Fair.[5]
  4. 2007/2008Selection contextApple Books metadata records Communication-Jeunesse selection context for the original title.[6]
  5. 2013English digital trailApple Books records an English Otis and Alice digital edition trail.[6]
  6. 2015Reissue evidenceBAnQ and the publisher trail preserve later edition or reissue evidence.[8][4]
  7. 2024Metadata trailLibrary and book-search records preserve a later metadata trail for the French edition.[2][10][11]
  8. 2026-06-07Cover verificationThe Communication-Jeunesse cover candidate was technically verified for this synthesis wave.[12]

French And English Trail

Selected publication and circulation points.

2006

Ulysse et Alice

French-language Montreal edition.

2013

Otis and Alice

English digital edition trail in Apple Books metadata.

2015

Later Quebec trail

BAnQ and publisher sources preserve later edition evidence.

Explore Connections

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

Linked records

French-language peer

Dis... mamans

Both records belong to the collection's French-language two-mother family trail.

References [1]

Broad-family anchor

The Family Book

Both titles include images or descriptions of many family forms, including same-sex-parent households.

References [1]

Packet peer

The Great Big Book of Families

Both records combine same-sex-parent representation with a broader family-variety visual field.

References [1][7]

Two-mother baseline

Heather Has Two Mommies

Both center a child with two mothers, but Ulysse et Alice adds French-language Quebec context.

References [1]

Shared themes

Many kinds of families

Families, a Coloring Book

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

Two mothers

Is Your Family Like Mine?

An early picture book in which a child with two mothers asks classmates what makes a family.

Many kinds of families

All Families Are Different

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

Many kinds of families

When Grown-Ups Fall in Love

A numbered and signed preschool picture book about different adult couples and their children.

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

Ulysse et Alice. Ariane Bertouille; illustrated by Marie-Claude Favreau. Editions du remue-menage, with Bouton d'or Acadie collaboration, 2006. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-128.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

Cover image from Communication-Jeunesse.

  1. Local collection catalog record for Ulysse et Alice · catalog
  2. Open Library ISBN metadata for Ulysse et Alice · library
  3. Communication-Jeunesse record for Ulysse et Alice · book_organization
  4. Editions du remue-menage page for Ulysse et Alice · publisher
  5. CDÉACF notice for Ulysse et Alice · news_archive
  6. Apple Books record for Otis and Alice · bookseller
  7. Kaleidoscope educational-resource record for Ulysse et Alice · education
  8. BAnQ bibliographic record for Ulysse et Alice · library
  9. Fitzhenry record for Otis and Alice · publisher
  10. Google Books ISBN search for Ulysse et Alice · library
  11. Library of Congress ISBN search for Ulysse et Alice · library
  12. Communication-Jeunesse cover image for Ulysse et Alice · image
  13. Communication-Jeunesse cover thumbnail for Ulysse et Alice · image