Author: Vanita Oelschlager
Publication dates: Sept. 1, 2011, and Apr. 1, 2010
Length: 40 pages each
A Tale of Two Mommies is a conversation between three children at the beach, about how one of the kids has two mommies. The other two children ask all sorts of questions about who takes various roles in the boy's life.
A Tale of Two Daddies is a similar conversation between a girl who has two daddies and another kid.
The problem I had with both of these books is that I don't think kids would ask these questions. Am I wrong here? What kid thinks that only one of your parents is there when you scrape your knee? Or that only one of them would help you take your bath? I'd be sad if a kid had gender stereotypes built into their brain at so young an age that they assume only dads can build treehouses or only moms can bake birthday cakes.On the other hand, I do like the answers to the questions. I noticed that the author does not make it so one of the parents is doing all of the traditionally masculine work with the other doing the traditionally feminine work.
My favourite parts were when both parents do something. Of course, both moms help look for a lost kitty, and both dads are there when you need to talk.
So, despite their flaws, these are still nice books. They'd probably be more appropriate for kids who don't understand LGBT families, rather than the actual kids they're about.
3 stars each.
Full disclosure: I received free e-book copies of these books from the publisher through NetGalley.
No comments:
Post a Comment