Queer Heroes and Heroines

As a bookseller, Ilse is always curious when books are published that don't serve the mainstream.
Living in a world where—sadly—many children’s books still show their protagonists in stereotypical roles, we love that an increasing number of books prove that nowadays, people are thinking more outside the box.

Above all, we love the trend to publish books about strong and independent girls or princesses who don't just wait for a prince to rescue them. The girls in these books are tough and ambitious and don't rely on the help of male friends (princes) to help them achieve their goals. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli, for example, illustrates the stories of important and strong women in history who became famous for achieving their goals and being opinionated. But we don't want to say that there should be books like that only for girls. There is an equally great book for younger boys called Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different by Ben Brooks and Quinton Wintor.

Yet, living in a very heteronormative world, there don't seem to be many books that focus on LGBTQ+ topics. And we think it's important to show kids and teens that there is more in the world than the typical male-female relationship or being a boy or being a girl.

So we are more than happy to see that there is this great book, Queer Heroes: Meet 53 LGBTQ Heroes from Past and Present! by Arabelle Sicardi and Sarah Tanat-Jones, that focuses on the lives of 53 LGBTQ+ heroes and heroines who helped to raise awareness for the queer community all over the world: so many people of whom we didn't know they had such an influence on the LGBTQ+ community. It also shows how different life can be depending on the place where a person grows up and what impact cultural differences can have.

A very thought-provoking book for young and old(er) readers with lots of beautiful and creative illustrations!

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