Early Landmarks

Books and related records that help trace the earliest visible forms of LGBT family representation in children's and young adult literature.

1979

Jane Severance; illustrated by Tea Schook

A 1979 Lollipop Power picture book about a child and her mother after the mother's partner leaves.

Lesbian-parent family lifeSeparationChild grief

English edition 1983

Susanne Bösche; photographs by Andreas Hansen; translated by Louis Mackay

A photographic picture book about a girl, her father, and her father's male partner.

Two fathersPhotographic picture booksDanish children's literature

First published 1989

Lesléa Newman; illustrated by Diana Souza

A 1989 picture book about a child with two mothers, represented here through its In Other Words first-edition history and later public life.

Two mothersSame-sex parent familiesChildren’s literature

First published 1990; local paperback record 1991

Michael Willhoite

An early picture book about a child, his divorced parents, and his father's partner Frank.

Two fathersDivorce and familiesAlyson Wonderland

First published 1991

Johnny Valentine; illustrated by Lynette Schmidt

A fairy-tale collection that places children with gay fathers and lesbian mothers inside enchanted plots and comic rule-making.

Fairy talesTwo fathersTwo mothers

Feminist Press first edition, 1971

Barbara Danish

A Feminist Press picture book in the collection's small-press publishing cluster.

Feminist PressNonsexist children's booksSmall-press publishing