Product Description

It's family fun from A to Z in this alphabet book that shows kids and their parents laughing, playing and enjoying family life. All of the brilliant watercolors depict families headed by gays and lesbians. "C is for cookies. Both of my dads know how to make great chocolate chip cookies." "L is for lunch. We always pack a picnic lunch when my moms take me to the beach."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #418777 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From the Publisher
Two Lives specializes in publishing quality books for children in families headed by gays and lesbians. The number of children being raised in alternative families is increasing daily, and we believe that these kids deserve to see their lives reflected in the books they are reading.

From the Author
So far, most of the books published for kids in gay and lesbian families have been very issue-oriented. I wanted to see some books where the fact of the family being different wasn't the focal point of the book. So I thought of making an alphabet book, where kids could say the letters and just see families like theirs having fun in the pictures. I'm glad that the book is being used in daycares and being read to all children. That way kids can see families that might be different from their own.

About the Author
Bobbie Combs has been involved in the children's book industry for 18 years in a variety of ways. She has been the manager of two children's bookstores, the children's book buyer at a book wholesaler, and a children's book reviewer. She co-founded Two Lives Publishing to fill a void that she had noticed in children's publishing - that there were very few books being published for children in households headed by gays and lesbians.

Customer Reviews

Finally, a book written for our family!!!
We are a two mom family with a 5 year old son and a 16 month old daughter, and we have been waiting a LONG time for books that reflect our family constellation. I have been reading to my son since he was born, and "ABC A Family Alphabet Book" by Bobbie Combs is the first book to accurately, tastefully, creatively and humorously reflect the world of lesbian and gay families. Combs' books (see "123 A Family Counting Book" as well) are well written and beautifully illustrated and depict the every day lives of children who live in non-traditional families. What is wonderful about Combs' work is that the books are about learning to count and learning the alphabet foremost, and the illustrations of lesbian, gay, and multicultural families provide a natural backdrop for this learning. There is no heavy-handed political "message," only quality children's books that are a VERY welcome addition to our family library. I look forward to more works by Combs and by Two Lives Publishing, a company dedicated to producing children's books for alternative families.

Refreshing, yet disappointing
I am pleased to see a children's book incorporating LGBT families as characters without presenting LGBT-specific issues as the central topic of the book. Kudos to the authors for choosing to depict a fair amount of racial diversity including interracial families. However, I was disappointed to see a lack of heterosexual couple representation. Heterosexual couples are overrepresented in children's literature generally, so I fear that the lack of representation in books like this contributes to a sense of other-ness: Non-traditional families do exist, but they are so different and separate from the mainstream that they all crowd together in the safety of their own book and are rarely if ever seen interacting with heterosexual families.

This Book is WONDERFUL for non-traditional families!
This book is quite groundbreaking, and is excellent in the way it portrays our differences as not-so-different to children. Very thoughtful, well-written - a must have in any child's collection! ABC A Family Alphabet Book, and many more like it, are the focus of our website, www.[...].com, which caters to gay parents and their children.