Children of LGBTQ+ parents deserve more than picture books telling them their families are valid. While those books are of course crucial (Kirst has even written some of them), queer families also experience everyday challenges that have nothing to do with the parents' genders. It is these stories, Kirst says, that are sorely lacking in the world of children's books.
The book is not at all focused on the fact that both of Grayson's parents are men. It does not establish that their family is normal or beautiful the way it is. Quietly revolutionary, it simply jumps into the story, trusting the reader to accept the underlying premise that Grayson's family is valid and moving on to their day-to-day problems (and their day-to-day joys).
I've written a few other picture books that feature LGBTQ families, and I started to realize that there's so much room in the children's book market for books that are, I don't want to say simple parenting topics, but the topics that we all grew up reading about, but that just feature queer families.
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