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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Cover of King and King and Family.

Cover image from Open Library.

Image source

King and King and Family

Creator

Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland

Date

English edition, 2004

Format

Book

The sequel to King and King, moving from royal marriage to family formation.

Same-sex parentsAdoptionFairy-tale sequelDutch picture booksSequelFairy-tale revision
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

King and King and Family is the sequel that turns the King and King marriage story into a family-formation story. The first book revised the fairy-tale marriage plot by having a prince fall in love with a prince; the sequel asks what happens after the royal wedding. Public records and local description point to a honeymoon journey, encounters with animals and babies, a wish for a child, and an adoption conclusion. That makes the item important as a sequel rather than a duplicate. It shows same-sex marriage representation moving into questions of parenting, adoption paperwork, and the institutional recognition of family. In the collection, the book can be read beside And Tango Makes Three because both use a child-facing form to connect same-sex pairing with adoption-like care and family completion.[6][9][2][1]

Sequel Function

The sequel changes the interpretive question. King and King resolves the marriage plot; King and King and Family asks how that royal couple becomes a family with a child. That movement matters because same-sex relationship representation and same-sex parent representation are related but not identical. The collection can show how one fairy-tale world was extended from romance and wedding to adoption, documents, return home, and family recognition. It makes sequel status interpretively useful.[6][9][1]

Adoption And Paperwork

The local account of the ending emphasizes adoption paperwork, documents, and stamps. That detail is more than a joke. It brings bureaucracy into a fairy tale, making family formation both magical and institutional. The child appears through comic narrative logic, but the kings' parenthood still requires formal recognition. This gives the item a useful bridge between fantasy and law, especially beside collection records where courts, schools, and libraries also decide how families are recognized.[1][12][9]

From Marriage To Parenting

The first King and King book appeared in public disputes over classroom exposure and same-sex marriage representation. The sequel extends the same world into parenting. That sequence helps visitors avoid treating LGBTQ children's books as a single issue. Marriage, adoption, family formation, school use, and challenge history are connected but distinct. The sequel makes that distinction visible by shifting the story's emotional center from choosing a partner to wanting and recognizing a child.[2][11][12]

Visual Continuity

Because de Haan and Nijland remain central to the sequel, the book preserves the visual world of King and King while changing the family situation. That continuity matters for edition and sequel display. Visitors can compare how the same royal figures and illustration style carry a new story problem. The sequel is not merely an afterthought; it is a second visual and narrative stage in the same fairy-tale experiment.[3][8][9]

Timeline

  1. 2000Dutch originThe King and King sequence began in Dutch picture-book publishing.[3]
  2. 2002/2003English King and KingEnglish records place King and King in early-2000s Tricycle Press circulation.[2][5]
  3. 2004Sequel publicationOpen Library and review records identify King and King and Family as the sequel.[6][9]
  4. 2000sChallenge contextALA records place King and King in challenged-book history.[11]
  5. 2008Parker v. HurleyThe First Circuit dispute involved classroom exposure to books including King and King.[12]
  6. 2005Tango comparisonAnd Tango Makes Three gives a later animal-story comparison for same-sex family formation.[22]

King And King Sequence

The two books move from royal marriage to family formation.

2002/2003

King and King

A prince marries a prince in a fairy-tale revision.

2004

King and King and Family

The sequel extends the marriage story into adoption and family recognition.

Explore Connections

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

Linked records

Sequel relation

King and King

The sequel extends the first book's same-sex royal marriage story into adoption and family formation.

References [5][6]

Adoption comparison

And Tango Makes Three

Both books connect same-sex pairing with child care and family formation through child-facing narrative forms.

References [22][9]

Fairy-tale revision

The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans

Both titles use fairy-tale or comic form to revise inherited family rules.

References [20][8]

Classroom controversy

Parker v. Hurley

The King and King sequence belongs near classroom and parental-control debates over LGBTQ materials.

References [12][11]

Shared themes

Same-sex parents

Families

A photo-essay book in which children describe many forms of family life.

Adoption

What Matters Most

A self-published many-family picture book about a child learning that family is defined by care rather than structure.

Adoption

Prism: Daddy and Papa

A periodical record centered on parenting, gay fatherhood, and adoption in LGBTQ print culture.

Adoption

Families, a Coloring Book

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

Nearby dates

Published 2004

Flying Free

A firefly-narrated picture book in which a two-mother family appears inside a story about empathy and release.

Published 2004

Focus on MY Family

A COLAGE youth-created anthology that documents children and young adults with LGBT parents speaking in their own forms.

Published 2004

Girls Will Be Boys Will Be Girls

A gender-expression coloring book that asks children to question expected roles and activities.

2004

Jean a deux mamans

A French board book in which a little wolf's family includes two mothers.

Citation

King and King and Family. Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland. Tricycle Press, 2004. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-135.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

  1. Mechanics Institute local catalog record · catalog
  2. Penguin Random House record for King and King · publisher
  3. Official Koning & Koning book site · publisher
  4. Official Koning & Koning school-use page · publisher
  5. Open Library ISBN record for King and King · library
  6. Open Library ISBN record for King and King and Family · library
  7. WorldCat record for King and King and Family · library
  8. Publishers Weekly review of King and King · trade
  9. Publishers Weekly review of King and King and Family · trade
  10. Lambda Literary Awards 2002 · award
  11. ALA frequently challenged books top 10 lists · ala
  12. FindLaw summary of Parker v. Hurley · law
  13. Open Library ISBN record for The Daddy Machine, 1992 · library
  14. Open Library ISBN record for The Daddy Machine, 2004 · library
  15. Korea Queer Archive record for The Daddy Machine · archive
  16. Raise Them Righteous review of The Daddy Machine · article
  17. Publishers Weekly notice on Johnny Valentine reissues · trade
  18. Publishers Weekly article on Sasha Alyson · trade
  19. Patricia Loughrey page for The Daddy Machine musical adaptation · creator
  20. Lambda Literary Awards 1991 · award
  21. Open Library record for When Megan Went Away · library
  22. Simon & Schuster record for And Tango Makes Three · publisher
  23. SFGATE report on Roy and Silo · news