The Pirate Mums

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There are a million ways we can feel apart from our peers as we grow and work out who we are, and I know that teachers are perfectly placed to bring out that aspect of the story in the classroom. Fighting homophobia Fast forward a couple of years, and my debut picture book, The Pirate Mums, is on shelves, online and – I hope – in classrooms and school libraries too. Representation matters

Seeing families like theirs in the stories their teachers read, as well as those they’re read at home, will make kids of LGBTQ+ families feel far more included in the classroom community. Relatable stories Indeed, the universality of feeling, at times, like we don’t fit in, is another reason that I’m hopeful teachers will embrace The Pirate Mums. Picture books that can bring tears to the eyes even after repeated reads are few and far between. John Burningham mastered the skill with Granpa, as did Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb with The Paper Dolls. But it’s particularly impressive that debut author Lauren Ace and illustrator Jenny Løvlie achieved the feat while fresh to the game with The Girls, about four schoolgirls whose friendship and lives blossom under an old apple tree. The tale won the illustrated book category of the 2019 Waterstones children’s book prize, and the pair have since received messages from readers worldwide thanking them for reflecting their own friendships and inspiring the next generation. The fiesty female characters are everything I want myself – and my girls – to live up to.’ Anna Whitehouse, Heart Radio DJ

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Perfectly Norman is a fascinating story. As a transgender person who kept their true identity secret from her parents for fear of rejection, I related to this book in a big way. And whilst, due simply to age and changing publishing production values, the books perhaps didn’t quite stand up to the jazzy frontlist titles my girls were enjoying at the same time, it was quite clear to see that they had an immediate and deep connection with stories that showed a family with two mums. My daughters returned to Mommy, Mama and Me and others again and again. And they search out and talk about any incidental same-sex couples they see in other books, too – such as Lauren Ace and Jenny Lovlie’s beautiful The Girls or Sue Hendra and Paul Linnett’s Snowball. Time and again, they put their own experience of love, as they see it shared between their two mums, centre stage, even when that love is not the main focus of the actual stories. The author commented: “I couldn’t be more delighted to be partnering with Just Like Us. Their amazing school resources will not only show children with two mums or two dads that their families are accepted in the classroom, they also show other kids that these families exist. I’m particularly hopeful that the book is taken to heart by teachers. The wonderful L. D. Lapinski wrote recently about growing up under the unseen shadow of Section 28, where teachers were forbidden from even mentioning anything LGBTQ+. That was my experience, too, and I find it utterly astonishing that until the year 2000 it would not have been legal for educational establishments to feature a family like mine in any sort of literature. I wrote the book to resonate with children who worry about their family being different from the norm in any way at all – perhaps they speak another language at home, or eat food that isn’t the same as the meals served at friends’ tables.

The free educational resources also include ideas for PSHE, PSED and lessons across the curriculum as well as worksheets, drawing exercises and discussion prompts. Counting worksheets with a great pirate theme so EYFS children can practise different maths skills; Within Atinuke’s warm, playful depiction of Anna Hibiscus’ inter-generational, cross-cultural family, we experience a little girl’s confusion as, overnight, the roles and rituals that have "always" defined her family suddenly shift. With the arrival of baby twins, family members’ energy and resources are unavoidably diverted from Anna. She feels anger, rejection and injustice as the people who love her suddenly seem universally "too busy’" These stories are not only important so that children with same sex parents feel included and accepted, but also because they show children who might grow up queer, that, if they want to, they can have a family, too.That idea turned into The Pirate Mums, published by Oxford University Press and illustrated by Kate Greenaway Medal nominee Lydia Corry. Our differences make us special This fantastic book challenges the equation that "conformity equals acceptance", celebrating instead the power of being solidly you. While Billy grapples with his own emotional landscape(shushing his mums, willing them to be "normal" and dreading peer embarrassment), the other children in the book say nothing, neither noticing nor seeming to care about his mums’ "strange" quirks. For eight-plus, Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (Bonnier) by Maisie Chan, illustrated by Anh Cao, features would-be artist Danny, who is excited about a promised surprise – until it turns out to be his Nai Nai from China, taking up residence in his top bunk. But there’s more to Danny’s wrinkled little grandma than meets the eye. Funny, light-hearted, and challenging racist stereotypes, Chan’s debut is a delightful celebration of intergenerational love, individual strengths and bingo.

I believe this representation in early years settings does a huge amount to help us build an accepting, loving society.” Lydia Corry studied painting at the Royal College of Art. Her first book, Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror by Natasha Farrant, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2021. She has illustrated several picture books.A perfect book for little ones with a new baby on the way or navigating inter-family frictions. 7. The Invisible String by Patrice Karst And so we learn, through gesture and allusion, that it is OK to miss somebody, to feel an aching gap, for things to unravel in the wake of loss, for grown-ups to find things difficult too, and for anger and upset to rear up through the emptiness.