LGBTQ+ Inclusive Picture Books from Perpich Library

June 24, 2025

In celebration of Pride Month, the Perpich Library is highlighting some amazing LGBTQ+ inclusive picture books which help promote conversations with the youngest readers.

All items on this list are available at the Perpich library. Click on titles for more information.

1. 47,000 Beads by Koja Adeyoha and Angel Adeyoha; illustrated by Holly McGillis
Peyton loves to dance, and especially at Pow Wow, but her Auntie notices that she’s been dancing less and less. When Peyton shares that she isn’t comfortable wearing a dress anymore, Auntie Eyota asks some friends for help to get Peyton what she needs.

2. The Boy & the Bindi by Vivek Shraya; illustrated by Rajni Perera
A five-year-old South Asian boy becomes fascinated with his mother’s bindi, the red dot commonly worn by Hindu women to indicate the point at which creation begins, and wishes to have one of his own. Rather than chastise her son, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself.

3. Circle of Love by Monique Gray Smith; illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt
In this warmhearted book, we join Molly at the Intertribal Community Center, where she introduces us to people she knows and loves: her grandmother and her grandmother’s wife, her uncles and their baby, her cousins, and her treasured friends. They dance, sing, garden, learn, pray, and eat together. And tonight, they come together for a feast! Molly shares with the reader how each person makes her feel – and reminds us that love is love.

4. I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel & Jazz Jennings; pictures by Shelagh McNicholas
From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl’s brain in a boy’s body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn’t feel like herself in boys’ clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz’s story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers.

5. Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes – and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself? Mesmerizing and full of heart, Jessica Love’s author-illustrator debut is a jubilant picture of self-love and a radiant celebration of individuality.

6. Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino; pictures by Isabelle Malenfant
Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. He dreams about having space adventures, paints beautiful pictures, and sings the loudest during circle time. But most of all, Morris loves his classroom’s dress-up center – he loves wearing the tangerine dress. But the children in Morris’s class don’t understand. Dresses, they say, are for girls. With warm, dreamy illustrations, Isabelle Malenfant perfectly captures Morris’s vulnerability and the vibrancy of his imagination. This is a sweetly told story about the courage and creativity it takes to be different.

7. My Footprints written by Bao Phi; illustrated by Basia Tran
Every child feels different in some way, but Thuy feels “double different.” She is Vietnamese American and she has two moms. Thuy walks home one winter afternoon, angry and lonely after a bully’s taunts. Then a bird catches her attention and sets Thuy on an imaginary exploration. What if she could fly away like a bird? What if she could sprint like a deer, or roar like a bear? Mimicking the footprints of each creature in the snow, she makes her way home to the arms of her moms. Together, the three of them imagine beautiful and powerful creatures who always have courage – just like Thuy.

8. My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis; illustrated by Suzanne DeSimone
Dyson loves pink, sparkly things. Sometimes he wears dresses. Sometimes he wears jeans. He likes to wear his princess tiara, even when climbing trees. He’s a Princess Boy. Inspired by the author’s son, and by her own initial struggles to understand, this heartwarming book is a call for tolerance and an end to bullying and judgments. The world is a brighter place when we accept everyone for who they are.

9. Phoenix Gets Greater by Marty Wilson-Trudeau with Phoenix Wilson; illustrated by Megan Kyak-Monteith
Phoenix loves to play with dolls and marvel at pretty fabrics. Most of all, he loves to dance – ballet, Pow Wow dancing, or just swirling and twirling around his house. Sometimes Phoenix gets picked on and he struggles with feeling different, but his mom and brother are proud of him. With their help, Phoenix learns about Two Spirit/Niizh Manidoowag people in Anishinaabe culture and just how special he is.

10. Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution. by Rob Sanders; illustrated by Jamey Christoph
A powerful and timeless true story that will allow young readers to discover the rich and dynamic history of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement – a movement that continues to this very day. Movingly narrated by the Stonewall Inn itself, and featuring stirring and dynamic illustrations, it’s an essential and empowering civil rights story that every child deserves to hear.

All items on this list are available at the Perpich Library.

Title descriptions are provided by Amazon and/or the publisher.