Since I’m an elementary school teacher I view most things thinking about my students. Do you remember that? It was an emotional moment. As I watched the news coverage that evening, I-along with everyone else-was amazed when the North Portico of the White House was washed in the colors of the rainbow flag. It was the evening of June 26, 2015, the night of the SCOTUS marriage equality decision. I know the exact moment I was inspired to write Pride. So, it’s extraordinary to see them and an ever-growing number of LGBTQIA+ themed picture books being published, in libraries, and on bookstore shelves. Rob Sanders: You’re right, picture books about the Pride Flag and the Stonewall Uprising probably wouldn’t have been published even five years ago. Who would have thought there would ever be picture books about the Pride Flag and Stonewall riots? Rob, how did you come up with the brilliant idea for Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag and Stonewall: A Building, an Uprising, a Revolution? And the paperback has just gone into its fifth printing! Heather marches on in her purple cowgirl boots! Things have really changed since I wrote the book in 1988.
And then after about 20 years, the book went out of print very briefly and was brought back to life by Candlewick Press in 2015. Then about six months later, Sasha Alyson acquired the book from us and published it as part of his Alyson Wonderland line. We started a fundraising effort (stuffing envelopes! licking stamps!) and raised enough money to print 4,000 copies.
I checked armloads of picture books out of the library to study the form and came up with the story of Heather with her two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, two pets, and two mommies.Īnd then because no one would publish it, a friend of mine who was, at the time, a lesbian mother of a one-year-old as well as the owner of a desktop publishing business (remember those?) and I decided we would publish it ourselves. Someone should write one.” And because I was also a child who did not see her (Jewish) family represented in children’s books, I took her request very seriously. Lesléa Newman: Here’s how it happened: a local lesbian mom literally stopped me on the street and said, “I don’t have a book to read to my daughter that shows a family like ours. I know the story behind the making of this book, would you share it with us? Heather Has Two Mommies is recognized as one of the first picture books with LGBTQIA+ representation. Rob Sanders: Lesléa, it’s always good to sit and chat with you. The two leaders of our workshop Writing the Rainbow: Crafting Picture Books With LGBTQIA+ Themes chat about writing picture books, recognizing important anniversaries and why more LGBTQIA+ voices are needed in children’s publishing. We’re pleased to welcome authors Rob Sanders and Lesléa Newman to the blog today.
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