The pea that was me : a two dads' egg donation and surrogacy story
written and illus. by Kimberly Kluger-Bell
Language: English
CreateSpace, 2014.
17 p. : col. ill. ; 22 x 22 cm.
ISBN: 1499746695 ; 9781499746693
My annotation: This book, about egg donation and surrogacy in two-dad families, is part of the Pea that was me series written by licensed marriage and family therapist, Kimberly Kluger-Bell. It is not so much a story as it is a very simple explanation of how “the pea that was me finally came to be!” The child narrator, a green pea, explains to her readers that it takes eggs, sperm, and a tummy in order to make a baby pea. When the egg and sperm are put together inside a “lady’s tummy,” a pea gets “bigger and bigger and bigger” until it grows into a baby. She explains however that her dads did not have any eggs, nor did they have a tummy, so they visit a doctor who knew “a very kind lady” who had eggs, and “another nice lady” who would “be happy to carry their baby pea!” The book introduces very young children to the words, “eggs,” “sperm,” “donor,” and “surrogate,” and would be suitable for children ages 3-5 since it provides the most basic explanation for how babies are made. The book takes a child conception approach and employs both the “helper” and the “nuts & bolts” scripts.
Available: https://www.createspace.com/4834676
The pea that was me : a two moms' sperm donation story
written and illus. by Kimberly Kluger-Bell
Language: English
CreateSpace, 2014
23 p. : col. ill. ; 22 x 22 cm.
ISBN: 1495290042 ; 9781495290046
My annotation: Written by a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in fertility counseling, this is a book with a child narrator, represented by a baby pea, who explains how her two moms had her via donor sperm. She begins the story by asking the question, “where did the pea that was me come from?” They tell her that two things are required: eggs and sperm, which must be put together in order to grow a baby inside a mommy’s tummy. The narrator goes on to explain though that her moms didn’t have any sperm, without which you can’t make a baby, so they went to a doctor who told them “there was a very kind man who had lots of extra sperm” and would be happy to share it. So the doctor put the sperm from the man together with one of her mommy’s eggs and a baby pea started to grow. The book introduces several vocabulary words to young children: “sperm,” “egg,” and “donor,” as well as the concept that a doctor’s help was required in order for the baby pea that “finally came to be.” The book takes a child-conception approach and employs the “nuts & bolts” and the “helper” scripts. Recommended for children ages 3-5.
Available: https://www.createspace.com/4631754
It takes love (and some other stuff) to make a baby
by L. L. Bird
illus. by Patrick Girouard
Language: English
Catadon Press, 2014.
25 p. : col. ill. ; 21 x 21 cm.
ISBN: 9780991522309
My annotation: This wonderfully illustrated book explains how it takes three things to make a baby: sperm, an egg, and some love, and is a pretty detailed account of how babies are made with the help of donor sperm and a mommy’s egg. The book introduces children to several concepts and vocabulary words such as “ovaries,” “uterus,” “pregnant,” “sperm,” “egg,” “testicles,” “sperm donor,” and “sperm bank” and explains what each term means when it comes up in the context of the description of how babies are made in two-mom families. Children are told that a doctor helps put the sperm inside the mommy’s belly so that it could join with the egg, but also states that parents can sometimes do this on their own. No explanation of how that can happen though is included in the book. The book takes both a family-building approach because of its emphasis on the need for love in order to make a baby, and a child-conception approach because most of the book is about the brass tacks of how babies are made. The book employs the “helper” and “nuts & bolts” scripts and is recommended for children ages 5-8 because of the large vocabulary words introduced.
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
- Artificial insemination, Human -- Juvenile literature
- Reproduction -- Juvenile literature
- Lesbian mothers -- Juvenile literature
Available: http://www.catadonpress.com/
Available: http://www.amazon.com/Takes-Love-some-other-stuff/dp/0991522303
I am extra special: an IVF story
by Belinda Messer and Rosie Luik
illus. by Jessica Smith
Language: English
2014
p. : col. ill. ; cm.
ISBN: 9780992538705
Summary: Our first children's book in the "I Am Extra Special" series. An IVF story is aimed at children aged 4-10 years and explains how they were conceived using IVF. It is a beautifully illustrated story book dedicated to all the "Extra Special" babies of IVF.
Available: http://www.iamextraspecial.com/
