Cebollino y Pimentón
written and illustrated by Laura Reixach
Language: Spanish and English
Barcelona : Bellaterra, 2010.
42 p. : il. color ; 33 cm.
ISBN: 9788472904903 ; 8472904903
Summary: La historia de cebollino y Pimentón es la historia de dos pingüinos que, tras años de vivir juntos, tienen ganas de formar una familia.Pero Cebollino y Pimentón no pueden poner ningún huevo.Y esto les entristece mucho.Pero a veces se hace realidad aquello que paracía imposible.
Available: https://www.amazon.es/Cebollino-piment%C3%B3n-Infantil-Juvenil-Reixach-Laura/dp/8472904903/
Jösta och Johan
by Anette Skåhlberg
illus by Katarina Dahlquist
Language: Swedish
[S.l.] : Sagolikt, 2010.
[28] sider : alle illustrations i farver 1 cd.
ISBN: 9789197892704 ; 919789270X
Summary: I boken Jösta och Johan får vi lära känna de båda girafferna som vill ha ett litet barn, fast de är av samma sort, likadan och likadan. De ger sig ut på savannen för att hitta ett barn och bli en familj. Men blir det så lätt som de tänkt sig? Blir det som de vill? Ja hurra, vilken grej! De får sig en Junior, en krokodiltjej. Det här är första boken om regnbågsfamiljen på savannen.
Available: https://www.akademibokhandeln.se/bok/josta-och-johan/9789188579508/
En attendant Timoun
by Geneviève Casterman
Language: French
[Bruxelles] : Pastel : Paris : L'Ecole des loisirs, 2010.
1 vol. (non paginé) : ill.
ISBN: 9782211054508; 2211054501
Available: https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/2211054501/
En attendant Timoun
written and illus. by Geneviève Casterman
Language: French
[Bruxelles] : Pastel : Paris : L'Ecole des loisirs, 2010.
1 vol. (non paginé) : ill.
ISBN: 9782211054508 2211054501
Available: https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/2211054501/
Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be!
by Tina Rella
illus. by Monica Meza
Language: English
CreateSpace, 2010.
26 p. : col. ill. ; 20 x 25 cm.
ISBN: 9781452875668; 1452875669
My annotation: Told in both the first and third person, this is the story of Jonathan and his two moms. When one day at school, someone asks him what his parents do for a living, he tells them what his moms do. “But where’s your dad?” the other child asks, and Jonathan does not know what to say. At home he asks, “Do I have a Daddy?” to which his moms reply: “...love makes a family, yes it’s true/Love makes a family - me and you/There’s nothing better we could have done/We always knew that you were the one!” The next page features the “Family Fertility Center” about which his parents begin to explain how a “nice young man … donated his sperm,” which a doctor mixed with “our eggs.” Although the book introduces the terms, “sperm,” “egg,” “embryo,” and “donate,” the part about mixing the sperm with “our eggs” might have to be explained as the book’s attempt at rhyme is confusing in parts: “The doctor mixed our eggs with the sperm/Which stayed in a dish for a very short term.” Still, this is an introduction to sperm donation and in vitro fertilization for young children with two mothers. This book takes a family-building approach and employs the “families are made differently” and a little bit of “the helper” script. Full -color illustrations depict a multi-racial lesbian couple. Recommended for ages 3-5.
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
- Children of gay parents -- Pictorial works -- Juvenile fiction
- Lesbian mothers -- Pictorial works -- Juvenile fiction
- Conception -- Pictorial works -- Juvenile fiction
Available: https://www.createspace.com/3454840
So that's where I came from
by Gina Dawson
illus. by Beth Norling
Language: English
Fitzroy, Vic. : Black Dog Books, 2010.
1 v. : col. ill. ; 23 x 25 cm.
ISBN: 9781742031019; 1742031013
Annotation: This comprehensive book from Australia about reproduction introduces children to the proper terminology for all terms related to human reproduction. It introduces children to the words, "penis," "vagina," "vulva," "uterus," "womb," "scrotum," "testicles," "sperm," "egg," "vas deferens," "urethra," "sexual intercourse," "ovaries," "fallopian tubes," "fertilisation," "conception," "pregnant," "amniotic fluid," "umbilical cord," "midwife," "breech," "Cesarean Section," "umbilical cord," "breasts," and "pubic hair." One way in which this book aims for comprehensiveness is its brief mention of infertility although surprisingly, given the book's large vocabulary for all things related to reproduction, does not introduce the word "infertility" for the concept of a couple being unable to conceive. "Sometimes a couple wants a baby very much, and although they have sex often, the egg and sperm don't meet." But unfortunately it stops there when it continues, "There are many reasons for this, but we don't have space to explain them all here." However, the book does go on to introduce the concepts of IVF and the use of donor gametes, as well as the need for a couple to visit a doctor in order to receive help in conceiving a baby. But on the next page the author warns children that they should not share this information about how they were conceived with other people: "The way you began and became a part of your family is personal, which means that you don't talk about it with people until you've discussed it with your mum or dad." For children conceived through ART, this could imply that there is something secretive or shameful about how they were conceived. Although the book aims to be comprehensive, and it is quite thorough in anticipating any and every question a child might have, it does not account for those who are gender nonconforming or transgendered in the way that Cory Silverberg's What Makes a Baby aims to do. This is clearly a book for primarily heterosexual parents to use with their children even though the book mentions different types of families which might include two mums or two dads. Cartoon drawings depict mixed race families and include nudity and visual and verbal depictions of lovemaking. Recommended for children ages 5-8.
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
- Sex instruction for children
Available: http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/book/so-thats-where-i-came-from/9341799/
Online article about the book: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/childrens-sex-education-book-updated-after-more-than-30-years/story-e6frfkp9-1225862260255
Here I am
written and illustrated by Kath D
2010
Available online: http://kathd2000.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/here-i-am-comic-book/
Um bebê para amar: história de um bebê que queria muito nascer...
by Helena Prado Lopes
illus. by Alessandra Tozi
Language: Portuguese
Rio de Janeiro : H. Prado Lopes, 2010.
20 p. : col. illus. ; 22 x 22 cm.
ISBN: 9788591098613
My annotation: This is the story of an infertile couple who very much want to have children. They want to have children to the point that it hurts to go to other people’s children’s birthday parties or even to take a walk in the park for they may see other parents pushing baby carriages. So after some time of trying, they visit a doctor to see what the problem is. The book does not specify what the problem is but after several months of trying and treatment, the couple become pregnant and are very happy. Finally they will be able to give their own parents a grandchild, and finally it will no longer hurt to go to birthday parties or to see parents pushing baby carriages in the park. The book suggests that it was IVF which helped this couple have their child for they wonder at one point whether their child will be “different” because he was conceived in a “laboratory.” When their child turns out to be just “like all the other babies,” they are relieved, and in the end, they are now a “family.” The book takes a family building approach and employs the “labor of love” and “families are made differently” scripts. This, along with one other book written by Kátia Maria Straube in the same year, was the first children’s book about ART published in Brazil in 2010. Currently the book is available only in Portuguese. Recommended for children ages 3-5.
Available directly from the author: helenaprado@globo.com
LAB: o planeta que fabricava bebês
by Kátia Maria Straube
illus. by Eliane Cássia Ramos
Language: Portuguese
Curitiba, Brazil: Expoente, 2010.
28 p. : col. ill.
ISBN: 9788598008462
My annotation: Lab: the planet that made babies was written by a psychologist and psychotherapist who works in the field of assisted human reproduction in Brazil. It was one of two children's books on ART published simultaneously in Brazil in 2010 and was one of the first to be published out of that country. It is the story of a planet in the “Test Tube Galaxy” where there are many unhappy couples because they cannot have children and so the population of the planet increases only slightly from year to year. Wondering what the problem is, the scientists on the planet begin to investigate exactly how babies are made and they discover that it is the cells of men and the cells of women that produce babies when they come together. (The way they come together naturally is not discussed). But why does it not work for some couples? The answer is complicated but they discover that they can invent ways for the cells to come together artificially. One way is through artificial insemination and the other is through in vitro fertilization. Thus these two methods are the ones discussed in the book (although egg donation is touched upon slightly later in the book). Because the term family is mentioned so many times, and because the conception of specific children in a specific family is not mentioned, this book takes a family-building approach and employs the “nuts and bolts” script. Even though the "nuts and bolts" of sex are not discussed, the "nuts and bolts" of these two methods of assisted reproduction are. Because this book is slightly less complicated than the second book in the series in that it mentions only two ART techniques, it is recommended for children ages 3-5. This is the first book in the “LAB” series by Kátia Maria Straube. The full-color cartoon illustrations are professionally rendered and it is currently only available in Portuguese.
Available: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lab-O-Planeta-que-fabricava-beb%C3%AAs/226813834029296
A little miracle
by Mireille van Seggelen
illus. by Anouk Braakhuis
Language: English
Budel [Netherlands] : MVS Creations, 2010.
30 p. : ill. ; 15 x 21 cm.
ISBN: 9789081114950; 9081114956
My annotation: This is one of a handful of books written in the second person. The book begins to explain sperm donation to children as young as three, yet does not use the words “sperm” or “donation.” The book explains how “seeds” from boys and eggs from girls are needed to make a baby. When they meet, “a baby starts to grow in Mummy’s tummy.” Sometimes however, there are no seeds that can meet with Mummy’s egg so a “kind man” is needed to “help” Mummy have a baby. Since this book is about sperm donation in which a woman does not have access to sperm, it is suitable for both single mothers by choice as well as lesbian women. It takes a child-conception approach and employs “the helper” script. Full-color cartoon drawings depict both women with partners and women without partners. Recommended for children ages 3-5.
Available: http://www.mvscreations.nl/a-little-miracle/book-di-mum-mum.html
Así fue como llegaste : un libro para hablar con niños por donación de espermatozoides
by Silvia Jadur and Constanza Duhalde
illus. by Claudia Degliuomini
Language: Spanish
Buenos Aires : Ediciones Agua va, 2010
32 pp. : col. ill. ; 18 x 18 cm.
ISBN: 9789872605216; 9872605211
Summary: Agua va... se ocupa de historias que deben fluir entre los grandes y los chicos; páginas que despejan dudas y buscan las respuestas con claridad y ternura. Hay un momento en que los niños preguntan cómo llegaron al mundo. De qué modo y por qué fueron concebidos. Aveces; en esta historia de amor; fue necesaria la ayuda médica para hacer posible el embarazo. Este es un libro que permite poner imágenes y apoyar las palabras con que los padres pueden dar respuesta a esas preguntas.
My annotation: Written in Spanish and from Argentina, this is the simple story of a couple who met, fell in love, and wanted to have children. When much time passed and they could not get pregnant, they went to see a doctor who performed much research and determined that the dad’s sperm could not make a baby. The couple was very sad, but the doctor told them about sperm donors and how these are men who think all people should be able to have a baby if they want one. So the couple decided to use a donor’s sperm. It was placed in a dish with the woman’s egg and when an embryo formed, it was carefully placed inside the woman’s belly. (Although this is a description of IVF, the term is not introduced). Mom’s tummy got bigger and bigger and then the long-awaited baby was born and everyone was so happy. The words, “sperm,” “egg,” “uterus,” and “embryo” are introduced. The book takes both a child-conception and a family-building approach and employs “the helper” script. There are full color illustrations and the book is recommended for children ages 3-5.
Available: http://www.californiaspanishbooks.com/prod_info.asp?ID=227778&name=As%C3%AD%20fue%20como%20Llegaste.%20Donaci%C3%B3n%20de%20Espermatozoides
Así fue como llegaste: fertilización asistida
by Silvia Jadur and Constanza Duhalde
illus. by Claudia Degliuomini
Language: Spanish
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Biblos, 2010
34 pp.
ISBN: 9789872605223; 987260522X
Summary: Agua Va... se ocupa de historias que deben fluir entre los grandes y los chicos; páginas que despejan dudas y buscan las respuestas con claridad y ternura.Hay un momento en que los niños preguntan cómo llegaron al mundo. De qué modo y por qué fueron concebidos. Aveces; en esta historia de amor; fue necesaria la ayuda médica para hacer posible el embarazo.Este es un libro que permite poner imágenes y apoyar las palabras con que los padres pueden dar respuesta a esas preguntas.
Available: http://www.californiaspanishbooks.com/prod_info.asp?ID=227787&name=Asi%20fue%20como%20Llegaste.%20Fertilizaci%C3%B3n%20Asistida
Así fue como llegaste: donación de óvulos
by Silvia Jadur and Constanza Duhalde
illus. by Claudia Degliuomini
Language: Spanish
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Biblos, 2010
34 pp.
ISBN: 9789872605209; 9872605203
Summary: Agua va... se ocupa de historias que deben fluir entre los grandes y los chicos; páginas que despejan dudas y buscan las respuestas con claridad y ternura.Hay un momento en que los niños preguntan cómo llegaron al mundo. De qué modo y por qué fueron concebidos. Aveces; en esta historia de amor; fue necesaria la ayuda médica para hacer posible el embarazo.Este es un libro que permite poner imágenes y apoyar las palabras con que los padres pueden dar respuesta a esas preguntas.
Available: http://www.buscape.com.ar/asi-fue-como-llegaste-donacion-de-ovulos-9872605203.html#precios
As many children as the stars
by Doris Ortiz Garcia
Language: English
Mustang, OK: Tate Pub & Enterprises Llc, 2010.
36 pp.
ISBN: 1616636084; 9781616636081
$7.99
Summary: Once upon a time...a husband and wife, who loved children's stories, longed for children of their own to share with them their favorite stories. The Master Teller promises the couple As Many Children as the Stars, but they must go on a challenging journey. They must first choose the one story, and then they must seek out the one child who will read the one story and believe, allowing the miracle to begin. This quest is not easy, and along the way, it begins to seem that the husband and wife will never find the one child. Will they lose hope, or will they keep faith and find the one child the Master Teller has promised will lead them to gathering As Many Children as the Stars? Find out in this endearing modern-day fable.
Available: http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61663-608-1
Once Upon a Surrogate: The Stork's Helpers
by Jill Hancock Reeder
illustrated by Tristan, Jessica, and Jill Reeder
Language: English
$16.95
Summary: Describes the process of surrogacy to the children of the surrogate, who are often overlooked in the process, Once Upon a Surrogate provides an excellent conversation starter for surrogates and their families.
Available: http://surrogacybooks.blogspot.com/
Mom and Dad and the Journey They Had!
by Molly Summer
illustrated by Monica Meza
Language: English
CreateSpace, 2010
26 pp.
ISBN: 9781451550054; 1451550057
Summary: The Thompson home is bustling with excitement because soon they will be welcoming a new baby into their family and Patrick will be a big brother for the very first time! As they are preparing the house, Patrick asks his parents to tell him about when he was a baby. They tell him about the incredible journey they took to have him, with the help of an egg donor.
Available: http://www.amazon.com/Mom-Dad-Journey-They-Had/dp/1451550057
Available: http://lovemakesafamilybooks.com/books-assisted-reproduction.html
Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow
by Sharon LaMothe and Tina Rella
Language: English
CreateSpace, 2010
30 pp.
ISBN: 9781456486808; 1456486802
Summary: Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow! is the heartfelt story of a family who decides to help a couple start of family of their own through gestational surrogacy. This book acts as an educational tool for children of gestational surrogates to better understand what their mothers are going through and the tremendous gift of family.
Available: http://www.amazon.com/Surrogacy-Helps-Make-Family-Grow/dp/1456486802/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338375831&sr=1-1
Tabitha and Timothy Grow a Flower
by Sarah Shackleton
illustrated by Gillian Coulson
Language: English
CreateSpace, 2010
36 pp.
ISBN: 1453630139; 9781453630136
Summary: A simple story to explain the concept of egg donation to a young child. There are several books that explain the specific details of egg donation and refer to biological fertilization, eggs, sperm, donors, pregnancy, etc, etc. Tabitha and Timothy Grow a Flower is for a much younger child. It is a starter book on the subject of third party reproduction. It was written to introduce the idea of egg donation, and to provide a conceptual reference for later conversations. Since many people choose to keep their circumstances private and not share with anyone that their child was conceived via third party reproduction, this book does not mention egg donation either within its pages or on its cover. The story is very simple... Tabitha and Timothy want to grow a flower, but it doesn't happen as easily as they expect. After many unsuccessful attempts with their own seeds, they find out about a kind lady who can help them. With her assistance, they achieve their dreams and grow a beautiful flower.
Available: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1453630139/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Bayje's Story: An IVF Tale for Little People
by Tanisha Danyette Brandon
Language: English
Baltimore, Md. : Publishamerica Inc, 2010.
1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 1448970024; 9781448970025
Summary: Some babies grow in their mommy's hearts; some grow in their mommy's stomachs. This is the story of a baby that grew in both. Told in easy to understand language, this true tale describes the journey of an IVF baby from conception to birth. With real photographs, IVF toddlers everywhere will delight in sharing Bayje's story, and hopefully better understand their own. Great for a night time story or just cuddle time.
Available: http://www.publishamerica.net/product36500.html
