Name: A Tale of Two Mommies
ISBN: 9780982636664

Vanita Oelschlager

A young boy describes how his two mothers take care of him, from fishing, to coaching t-ball, to comforting him when he is upset.

A Tale of Two Mommies

Sooo cute. This book is full of colours and children’s curiosity. It can be read to children who are living with a same sex pair but it should be read to children who are not. The language is easy to understand and the characters are diverse.

There is another book like this but it features a girl who has two daddies.

I got it as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. Thank you.

Jasmin 

A beautiful little book that might help explain to young children, that having two moms is just the same as having a mom and a dad. The only critique I can give is the age recommendation on goodreads, where an age group of 4 to 8 is given. I would suggest to change that from 3 to 5, as the art and writing definitely target a very young audience.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free review copy.

Kourtney

Recently my daughter declared that a kid in her school having two daddies was "weird" and "not normal." I glanced at hubs, and we quickly communicated 2 different things at the same time. My eyes said "oh no! We have failed her!" Hubs was thinking "where did this thought come from?"

My daughter takes after hubs in the way she receives information. You have to throw it all at her, let her walk away to think about it and then she will come back with questions. One way to start that conversation with her is to read a book about it.

In a move I like to chalk up to fate, my daughter's class focused on the meaning of "different" and "same" and they used families to discuss how we all are different, but the same. I happened to find both A Tale of Two Mommies and A Tale of Two Daddies books at the same time, to help drive this point home.

We started with A Tale of Two Mommies, and it was perfect! Told in conversation style between children, a child with a mommy and a daddy is asking who does certain jobs in the house that are traditionally done by the dad. Who pitches the tent when they go camping? Who fixes things around the house? We stress that our kids can do anything they want, regardless of gender stereotyping, and this has been reinforced while watching Daniel Tiger as well. That part of the convo we could leave off the table, and instead focus on the "families are different but THE SAME" message she was hearing from school.

We read the book, and my daughter said she really liked it. I then followed it up quickly with A Tale of Two Daddies, where we see who kisses any boo-boo's, who does the birthday cake baking (that was awkward, because hubs and I don't bake - that's a convo for another day), and who tucks her in at night. Again, families are different, but the same.

I sent her away, and she came back to me a few minutes later with questions, as she tried to puzzle through the information we gave her. We had a great conversation and I think/hope/pray that she walked away understanding that there is nothing weird or strange about having two mommies or daddies. Only time will tell, but at least I know books like these are available to help us navigate new conversations.

 I have received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Tale of Two Mommies

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