The Pirate Mums

Product Information

We at Books and Bao are huge fans of Laura Kate Dale, as a video games critic, a memoirist, a podcaster, and as a transgender trailblazer. And whilst, due simply to age and changing publishing production values, the books perhaps didn’t quite stand up to the jazzy frontlist titles my girls were enjoying at the same time, it was quite clear to see that they had an immediate and deep connection with stories that showed a family with two mums. My daughters returned to Mommy, Mama and Me and others again and again. And they search out and talk about any incidental same-sex couples they see in other books, too – such as Lauren Ace and Jenny Lovlie’s beautiful The Girls or Sue Hendra and Paul Linnett’s Snowball. Time and again, they put their own experience of love, as they see it shared between their two mums, centre stage, even when that love is not the main focus of the actual stories.

Picture books that can bring tears to the eyes even after repeated reads are few and far between. John Burningham mastered the skill with Granpa, as did Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb with The Paper Dolls. But it’s particularly impressive that debut author Lauren Ace and illustrator Jenny Løvlie achieved the feat while fresh to the game with The Girls, about four schoolgirls whose friendship and lives blossom under an old apple tree. The tale won the illustrated book category of the 2019 Waterstones children’s book prize, and the pair have since received messages from readers worldwide thanking them for reflecting their own friendships and inspiring the next generation.The clever ways in which the life and actions of crayons are laced into this story makes it a very funny and charming tale, but it’s also a desperately important one about being true to oneself. Perfectly Norman is a fascinating story. As a transgender person who kept their true identity secret from her parents for fear of rejection, I related to this book in a big way. The first, unsurprisingly perhaps, is so that children like mine, with two mums or two dads, see themselves and their lives somewhere other than in their home setting.

With main character mums who are strong, kind, and clever, this laugh-out-loud picture book (with optional sea shanties!) will help children understand that being different is what makes you special and that all families arrrrre worth telling stories about. Win The Pirate Mums! Clare Helen Welsh opens this poignant tale with an image of safe shelter – a family together, embracing, perfectly at ease. But she deftly leads her reader into a more complicated emotional landscape as the safety of the known begins to falter, shaken by the storms of fear, questioning and worry as a child’s illness begins to shadow the family. Here, she has teamed up with the incredibly talented illustrator Hui Qing Ang to bring us her first ever children’s book: an uplifting tale about overcoming gender dysphoria. It does this through an easy-to-comprehend metaphor that every child can follow, whether they suffer with dysphoria or not.For School Diversity Week (20-24 June), Grant has recorded a reading of her new book as a video resource that primary schools can watch with their pupils. Grant will also be visiting primary schools to read from her new book and answer questions from students. Or simply by people who have different hobbies. Little boys who don’t want to play football, despite being encouraged to.

But the final, and, perhaps most personal reason I so fervently want teachers to read and use The Pirate Mums at story time, in projects and as a core part of their teaching, is because, when I was at school they wouldn’t have been able to. And, as my daughters grew and started school, I could immediately see how useful a book like this would be for teachers, wanting to teach equality and acceptance alongside phonics and how to tell the time.

Curriculum

Lesbian mother and children’s author Jodie Lancet-Grant has released her new children’s book, The Marvellous Doctors For Magical Creatures.

This powerful little story creates a space where the complex feelings associated with losing somebody can be gently explored and validated. Maya has lost her mum, and is missing her. We don’t know how or why she has gone, and that is part of the book’s beauty and potential– she is simply absent. Gender dysphoria is a very important topic for parents to be aware of, and for that reason, Dale’s book is one of the most important LGBTQ bedtime stories to read, whether you are a child or a parent. A perfect book for little ones with a new baby on the way or navigating inter-family frictions. 7. The Invisible String by Patrice KarstFor kids, the best parts of The Pirate Mums are the adventure of the storm hitting the ship, the fun inventiveness of how Billy’s mums save the day, and the universal experience of being a little embarrassed by your parents. Author of The Pirate Mums, Grant’s new book follows Ava and her two dads who help magical creatures with a variety of different medical troubles. Just Like Us provides free resources for EYFS to Key Stage 4 to celebrate LGBTQ+ inclusion and diverse families in all key subject areas of the curriculum, including posters, lesson plans, assemblies, form time activities and video resources. This fantastic book challenges the equation that "conformity equals acceptance", celebrating instead the power of being solidly you. While Billy grapples with his own emotional landscape(shushing his mums, willing them to be "normal" and dreading peer embarrassment), the other children in the book say nothing, neither noticing nor seeming to care about his mums’ "strange" quirks.