This year has seen a flood of new Rainbow Reads (LGBTQ books) for children. It’s wonderful to have more and more stories for our queer children to see themselves and their families represented in. Adventures with My Daddies, written by Gareth Peter and illustrated by Garry Parsons, is one of these new picture books.
The light and bouncy rhyming text keeps the story flowing as a young child explains why they love their daddies so much as the three of them journey through their bedtime ritual. “Adventures” is the perfect word for the title, as the bedtime stories that are read lead this family on all kinds of adventures – from battling dragons to blasting off to the moon. The daddies’ favorite story, not surprising, is the one of their child’s adoption.
Gareth Peter’s words reveal the love this family shares, and Garry Parsons’ vibrant drawings are filled with detail – the adorable family dog appears in every spread, adding to the fun. A variety of families, ethnicities, and races are shown throughout the book. One of the daddies is white and the other is African American. The child is illustrated as mixed race. Families are presented with two mommies, a mom and a dad, and, of course, two daddies.
“The story is simple and treads familiar ground, but it does so in such a tender way that readers will enjoy returning to it again and again. Those with pajama storytime programs and families looking for their next great bedtime read will find this book particularly useful. A sweet adventure.” (Kirkus reviews)
Marti Johns 