Pride Book Recommendations
Pride Month is a time to celebrate love, families, and diversity. Celebrate pride and open conversations about LGBTQ+ by sharing a book with your child. Here are our top picks for board books, picture books, middle-grade, and teen books that include LGBTQ+ topics.
Thank you so much to Miriam Davis, Co-Director of the Children’s Diversity & Justice Library at TVUUC for compiling these titles for us. Nearly all these books can be borrowed from the CDJL. For more information, visit https://cdjlibrary.org/borrowcdjl.
Board Books:
Pride Colors by Robin Stevenson: A colorful rhyming book about being loved.
Being You: A First Conversation About Gender by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli: Developed by early childhood experts, this story explains what gender is, how it may change, and how it’s socially shaped.
Love Makes A Family by Sophie Beer: A simple board book showing that no matter what a family looks like, love is what makes it special.
Picture Books:
Plenty of Hugs by Fran Manushkin and Kate Alizadeh: Kirkus Reviews describes it as “ a sweet portrait of parental love.”
'Twas the Night Before Pride by Joanna McClintick and Juana Medina: Filled with diverse characters, this rhyming book features the excitement and history of a pride parade.
Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution by Rob Sanders and Jamey Christoph: The history of the Stonewall Riots from the point of view of the Stonewall Inn.
When We Love Someone We Sing to Them: Cuando Amamos Cantamos written by Ernesto Javier Martinez, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez and translated by Jorge Gabriel Martinez Feliciano: A bilingual story following a young boy whose father teaches him about the tradition of using songs to express love.
My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis and Suzanne DeSimone: A story about a boy who is supported and loved by his family even though he doesn’t follow “normal” gender stereotypes.
Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer, illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown: A look at diverse families written through the viewpoint of Stella, A girl with two dads getting ready for a Mother’s Day celebration at school.
Middle Grades & Teen
Other Boys by Damian Alexander: Kirkus Reviews describes this graphic novel as “a sweet, touching, memoir of grief and loss and coming out.”
The List of Things that Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead: A funny, heart-warming story about 12-year-old Bea’s navigation of her parent’s divorce and the creation of a blended family when her dad remarries.
Rick by Alex Gino: An exploration of gender and sexuality through the eyes of a sixth grader who decides it’s time to stand up to his bully of a best friend.
Pride: An Inspirational History of the LGBTQ+ Movement by Stella Caldwell: A nonfiction book exploring the history of pride through a timeline of LGBTQ+ history around the world from ancient cultures to modern times.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz: A coming-of-age story about family, friendship, and self-discovery.
All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto: A powerful memoir exploring the intersectionality of growing up black and queer.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin: Informative narratives of 6 transgender people from a wide range of backgrounds focusing on the diversity and complexity of gender.
