Picture Books

Lucy Goes To The Country. Written by Joseph Kennedy, illustrated by John Canemaker. This is a cute story of a "city cat" that becomes a "country cat" when her Big Guys go to their country house for the weekend. She meets her Big Guys' friends (including a lesbian couple holding hands) and eventually makes friends with a dog. The story is mostly about Lucy's activities, but doesn't pass up the chance to let you know that, yes, her Big Guys are together, as in a couple, and they sleep together. It's the best of this bunch.

Zack's Story. Written by Keith Elliot Greenberg, photographs by Carol Halebian. A very wordy real-life story of a little boy and his mother, and his mother's girlfriend. The format is that of picture book, but there is far too much writing for a young child. The pictures are very dated, as is the telling of his story. It's pedantic and would turn off most, if not all, young children.

Mom And Mum Are Getting Married. Written by Ken Setterington, illustrated by Alice Priestley. The story is that of a little girl who's mothers are planning a ceremony where they exchange rings. It's a 'no fuss' type affair, where there won't be a wedding party and the daughter has to argue to be a flower-girl-slash-ring-barer. The ceremony itself isn't the focus and has the feel of something that was before there was a such thing as legal gay marriage. While it's cute, it's feeling more and more dated (thankfully), though not terribly so.

Daddy's Roommate. Written and illustrated by Michael Willhoite. This is the story of a little boy and the things he does with his father and his father's 'roommate'. At one point at the very end of the story, the boy's mother tells him that his father is 'gay', but the term 'boyfriend' is never used, nor is 'partner'. Of course, it's implied, but the use of the word 'roommate' dates the book far beyond practical use. The story in and of itself is a cute one, they go to the zoo, to a Sox game, etc. And the boy is very accepting of his father's 'roommmate', they even do things together on their own. But the book needs to be redone, we're past the use of that word. And past the idea that gay men look like creepy pedophiles, which Daddy's Roommate is drawn to look.

King & King & Family Written and illustrated by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijiland. The sequel to King & King tells the story of their honeymoon in the jungle. The vast majority of the book talks about the things the couple sees on their trip, naming animals to an annoying length. The illustrations take away from the story completely. At the very end, they discover a "jungle girl" in their suitcase and decided to adopt her. They do mention the extent of the paperwork involved in adoption, which was cute, but the idea of stealing a child from the jungle is not exactly a good message to put forth. And again, it's almost added as an afterthought to the real story, which is that of the animals on their vacation. It's cute, but the message is missed.