We have quite a lot of books already, mostly in English and Estonian. I read in Estonian to her and my husband in English. We are quite some bookworms ourselves so we want her to become one as well :-)
I find it important that our daughter will grow up to be a strong independent woman who can have a say in how their life will be like. She goes to a daycare where there are children from different kinds of ethnic backgrounds but I also want her to understand that not everyone has a family with a Mom and a Dad. Families can be of all forms and sorts. Looking at the right-wing propaganda done all around Europe last years, I especially want her to grow up thinking that it is more than fine if you have 2 moms or dads! So that is what we went to explore ourselves.
I could not find many Estonian-language books at this theme (except a translation which I could also find in Dutch and could lend from the local library). Therefore, I ordered some English-language ones and lent a couple from the library in Dutch. I don't ever read Dutch or English to her but will just freely translate the contents in Estonian or tell about the pictures, as I wish.
So, what did we read (in the order of preference)?
1. Heather has Two Mommies
This is a story about a little girl called Heather growing up in a family with two mothers. It was already published about 30 years ago and it shows a bit. But I like how it has a nice storyline and a positive message that families can be of any kind. I like the illustrations and that people look 'normal' in the book. Something we will read to our child quite many times, I think!
P.S. I read the new version, apparently, they have taken out of the IVF part of the story, too bad!
2. Het grote boek over families, translated from The Great Big Book about Families
I loved this book because it really tells about all the different families one can have, but also what families do, including holidays, food, work etc. It touches shortly on poverty and negative feelings. I love the illustrations as they are racially diverse, have handicapped people on them but also allow the child to search for pets or little details they find interesting. I like how there has been thought put into what characters do, such as when there is a stay at home parent, it is the dad.
The book doesn't have a certain story-line, it is more of an encyclopedia way of introducing.
From the same authors as the last book, so the illustrations and the general story is the same. I preferred the previous one because it was just a bit more.
These are board books with nice verses and illustrations. Very durable, good content, sounds nice in English as well. Exactly suitable for the age M is in. I hope that she will be able to look at these often and understand that not all families look like hers :-)
This book is about a little girl, growing up in a 'traditional' family. She is getting a little baby brother and is sent on a quest to see how different families look like. I like the storyline and that it shows all different families. They show different races, different customs, mention divorce. I like that the author gives a list of questions to discuss after reading the book.
This is a board book about families and love. Most of the illustrations have diverse families on them, but sadly they are not very realistic illustrations. There is no storyline, just some sentences with accompanying illustrations. I think that it might be a nice way to start a conversation about different topics, such as family, what love means etc but this book is just too "much" for me - too many colours, too irrealistic illustrations, just too much.
6. Twee mama's
This is a Dutch-language book about two women who love each other and want a baby. It is basically explaining how one can have babies in a same-sex relationship when using a donor. I found it a bit too specific. I wish there would have been a discussion about adoption, for example, but I could imagine that it might be a good book to explain to children who were born via a male donor, how it works. Not the book I was searching for. Also, I am not really imagining at the moment how one can want four children (something about too few sleeping hours in the last 10 months could be a reason...) so I was a bit not too keen in them having so many kids.
This is a Dutch-language fairytale book about a prince who hadn't gotten married but was forced into seeing these different princesses but fell in love in a prince in the end. Again, not the book which I was searching for because it doesn't really have realistic pictures or real people in it. The storyline is not relatable and the drawings are not my style. In general though, good idea.