Contributions by Sara Austin, Rob Bittner, J. Bradley Blankenship, Gabriel Duckels, Caitlin Howlett, Isabel MillÃĄn, Jennifer Miller, Kaylee Jangula Mootz, Tim Morris, Dana Rudolph, j wallace skelton, Jason Vanfosson, River Vooris, and B. J. Woodstein
Picture books are books aimed at children where the illustrations are as important, or more important, than the text. Picture books, the effects of their simple text and importance in the literary canon, have been studied by scholars for decades, but little attention has been given to LGBTQ+ picture books. Reading LGBTQ+ Childrenâs Picture Books is a collection of essays that identifies and interprets childrenâs picture books that explicitly represent LGBTQ+ content.
Contributors to the volume include established and emerging scholars with expertise in the fields of childrenâs literature, young adult literature, cultural studies, critical race and ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies, history, and education. Each essay introduces readers to several childrenâs books that denote unmistakable LGBTQ+ content. Essays bring various interpretive frameworks and intellectual commitments to their unique readings of LGBTQ+ childrenâs picture books. The essays in Reading LGBTQ+ Childrenâs Picture Books produce innovative new scholarship about a range of topics including representations of LGBTQ+ marriage and parenting and LGBTQ+ history and culture. The topics explored, and theoretical frameworks applied, significantly expand available and accessible up-to-date scholarship on the growing field of LGBTQ+ childrenâs picture books.