Heather Has Two Mommies

Newman, Leslea, & Illustrated by Souza, Diana. (2000). Heather Has Two Mommies: Tenth Anniversary Edition. Los Angeles: Alyson Productions.

Heather Has Two Mommies is the third picture book I chose to review. Written by Leslea Newman, this book begins by explaining how everything in Heather’s life comes in twos, two pets, two arms, two legs, and two mommies. One day Heather’s mothers, Mama Jane and Mama Kate, decided to sign her up for a play group. During story time, her teacher, Molly, reads everyone a story about a boy whose father is a veterinarian. After Molly finished the story, Heather begins to cry because she realizes that unlike all of her friends, she does not have a father. Heather’s teacher begins to tell her that not every family has a daddy. One child says they don’t have any mothers and only one dad. One child says they have a step father, a father, and a mother. While they draw pictures of their families, each child discusses what kind of family they have. The teacher also says that it doesn’t matter how many mothers or fathers you have or if you live with relatives such as aunts, uncles, or grandparents, as long as everyone loves each other and is happy.

The illustrations in this book are drawn with charcoal and are in black and white. Initially this may not seem like it would attract children, however parents have said that children enjoy coloring in the pictures themselves. This creates a level of excitement and involvement in the book and allows children to feel as though they have helped create it. Some of the illustrations are made to look like real children have drawn them, which make readers feel as though they could be one of the characters. The illustrations also include a diverse group of students in Heather’s play group. The illustrations of the GLBT insiders are a bit stereotypical. One of the mothers is drawn to look more built with a shot haircut and non-feminine clothes. Her job is also explained to be a carpenter. In one of the illustrations, the other mother is also wearing a shirt that says “No Nukes”. This is a bit stereotypical because many assume that gays and lesbians are all about peace and staying away from war. The text on each page of Heather Has Two Mommies is fairly long. The words are simple, but it may be best read by an advanced reader or by a parent or teacher.

Heather Has Two Mommies was the first book to be published by Alyson Wonderland Publications. As discussed above Alyson Publications is devoted to providing literature for children with gay and lesbian parents. At the end of the book there is a large section entitled “A Note to Parents and Teachers”. In this section the author explains that she chose to write this book because a lesbian family approached her and explained that they had recently adopted a baby and had nothing to read to her. This section also explains that Newman has cut down the text and made many changes from the first edition. The first edition included information about Heather’s conception and birth and many people were afraid to introduce this book to children because of it. Like the book Molly’s Family the issue of lesbian parents is addressed in school by realizing that Heather’s family is not like any of the other children’s families. Many different family structures are named which give all types of readers the ability to feel as though they are being represented. In the note to parents and families Newman also asks a question to readers that do not support gay and lesbian literature in the classroom. She says, “How can you assume that every child sitting in your classroom or library comes from a home with a mother and a father?” This is important to look at because not only is this book important in explaining homosexuality, but also in explaining different families in general. The main message, much like the message portrayed in Molly’s Family is that no matter what kind of family you belong to, if everyone loves each other nothing else matters.

By reading the end section readers find out that Leslea Newman is a lesbian, and therefore, an insider to the LGBT group. I found it interesting that although the author is an insider some of the illustrations are a bit stereotypical. The illustrator may not be an insider, and this may be why she drew these pictures in this way. Some times authors and illustrators do not get a chance to communicate about what the author’s goal was for the book. If this was the case here it may explain why the illustrations do not necessarily match the text. This teaches us why it is important to choose literature written by many insiders and outsiders because even though someone might be an insider does not mean the book will be completely accurate and just because someone is an outsider does not mean that they book will be wrong. In this case, although a few of the illustrations are stereotypical, the text and message is still an accurate portrayal of the GLBT community.

Image From: http://familiesjoinedbylove.com/bookstore/images/large/heather.jpg