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Book Giveaway: Donovan’s Big Day by Leslea Newman

June 29, 2011 by Sarah

Please note: while comments on this post continue to be welcome, the giveaway is now over.

Leslea Newman, of Heather Has Two Mommies fame, has recently published a new picture book, Donovan’s Big Day, a delightful story about the day a little boy’s two moms get married.

Told from Donovan’s perspective, the book is beautifully written for the 4-to-8-year-old set, with sweet, cheerful drawings by Mike Dutton. It builds suspense from the moment Donovan wakes up to the culmination of his big day, and manages to convey Donovan’s nervousness, seriousness, and joy to the reader. As I read:

When the tall grown-up in the long black robe said, “I now pronounce you wife and wife,” Donovan threw his arms around his mothers while everyone clapped their hands and stamped their feet and whooped and whistled and hollered, “Hooray!”

I cried. I cried again the second time I read the book, and the third, and every time I’ve read it since, including when I heard my son read it to my daughter.

Donovan’s Big Day isn’t just for kids with same-sex parents—it’s a book for all children. Despite the political life of The Issue of Gay Marriage, at its heart gay marriage is simply marriage, the joining of two people who love each other. Donovan’s New Day is not about politics or strife, but simply what it’s like for a child to witness and participate in one of the most purely wonderful moments in a family’s life. Leslea wrote the book after watching gay and lesbian couples get married on May 17, 2004, the first day same-sex marriage was legal in her home state of Massachusetts. “There were many, many children present that day,” she said, “children of those couples, children as bystanders…participating in all the joy.”

Every child should get to read this book, or have it read to them by their teary-eyed parents.

(And by the way, I can hardly believe Leslea has written yet another book. Three months ago I reviewed her then-new board books Mommy, Mama, and Me, and Daddy, Papa, and Me, both of which you’ll want to give to every toddler you know. She is a prolific writer, penning not only picture books but middle-grade and teen novels, and, for adults, fiction, non-fiction, humor, short stories, and poetry. It’s worth poking around her website to learn more.)

Leslea was kind enough to send me an autographed copy of Donovan’s Big Day to give away to one of you. I invite you to enter for a chance to win this hardcover book by commenting on this post below (if you’ve received this review in your email box, just click on the title of the post and you’ll be taken to my blog, where you can enter a comment). You’ll need to either leave your email address in your comment or friend me on facebook so I can find you if you’re the winner.

Thank you, Leslea—for giving away this book to one of my readers, for writing this book, and for all you do to make this world a more wonderful, joyful place.

The Mother Company

June 27, 2011 by Sarah

The Mother Company—dedicated to social and emotional learning for parents and kids—recently posted a two-part series on childhood gender expression. I was honored to be asked to contribute an essay for the first part of the series, about the first time Sam went to school in a dress.

The second part in the series, an interview with Gender Spectrum founder Stephanie Brill (author of The Transgender Child), did a fantastic job of articulating best practices for parents of gender-nonconforming and transgender kids.

As I read the readers’ comments on the series I felt how sad and angry I am that Sam has to do the work to change society, every time he comes up against one of the limits of “acceptable” gender expression. I hate it each and every time he has to tell another kid it’s okay for him to be in the boys’ bathroom, or put up with teasing by classmates over his long hair, or think about whether he will have a hard time at school for the color of his pencil case. I hate that my child has to push society’s boundaries, that he can’t just relax into the work that previous generations have done (as I do, as my daughter does). I wish that he could simply be himself, the way a girl in jeans heading out to soccer practice can just be herself.

But I also felt immensely proud. Sam may be doing incredibly hard work just to be himself, but the extraordinary byproduct of his work is that he’s changing the world.

I imagine the first girls who wore pants to school. I imagine the first women who took “men’s” jobs. I imagine the first African Americans who didn’t toe the color line, and the first gay people who married. My son is one of these pioneers. He is paving the way for future pink boys to be who they are without ridicule. I wish that it was not so hard for him. But given that it is, I could not be a prouder mom.

The Pink Wand

June 24, 2011 by Sarah

I got the most awesome email (with an even awesomer attachment) the other day. It said:

From my darling child to yours, I send you a message of hope and love. My daughter wrote this to Sam with no prompting from me (I did part of the tree illustration, that’s it!) This story is what she “wants him to think about in scary times.” We have so much to learn from our kids.

The email contained a book that her daughter wrote for Sam. I read it and got all teary. And then I realized I wasn’t just moved but impressed. The book is sophisticated, smart, and sassy. It’s a well-plotted, lovingly illustrated, inspirational story about a boy who triumphs. And I’m going to share it with you here. But first, I’m going to share the author’s (pseudonymous) bio:

Ms. Alexis Taylor is seven-and-a-half years old and lives with her two moms in NYC. She is starting second grade this fall. She enjoys Harry Potter, chess, robotics, writing fiction, minor cat harassment, and playing with her 18-month-old sister.

After I read the book, I wrote Alexis’s mom back to say that I loved Alexis’s book, and that I loved, loved, loved Alexis. And she replied: “We love her too—she is her own brand of fabulous—a completely sparkly alpha-girl who takes no B.S. from anyone—with a sprinkling of super hero.” Isn’t that what we all aspire to be?

Alexis is an inspiration to me, an unseen force of goodness for Sam, and a blessing for the world.

So, without further ado, I present you with Ms. Alexis Taylor’s book, which I hope will be published ASAP by a huge mainstream publisher.