Celebrate Nonbinary Parents’ Day with a new lullaby and new books featuring nonbinary parents

Today, in celebration of Nonbinary Parents Day, listen to an absolutely beautiful, brand new lullaby celebrating nonbinary parents and their varied parental names (a sneak peek from the upcoming album from award-winning children’s music trio Ants on a Log) and learn about two upcoming books and other resources for and about non-binary parents and what they call themselves.

A lullaby in honor of non-binary parents

The song “Moppa”, by the trans-led Ants on a log, is simply overflowing with love and affirmation. It will officially (!) be released on their album on May 31st Rainbow seekers. (Here’s my review of the full album, packed with strange joy.) Many thanks to the Ants for letting me share the song’s lyric video in advance.

There’s unfortunately no way to pre-order the album, so follow the band on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, or your platform of choice and set an alert to be notified when something new drops. (You can also catch the Ants on tour!) Trust me, queer parents and people with queer kids are going to want these.

Two books in honor of non-binary parents (and others)

Click on images or titles for full reviews.

Just like my family, by Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham (Running Press Kids), is a joyful celebration of family members with a variety of gender identities, expressions, and titles, including (but not limited to) non-binary parental and other familial titles such as baba, zaza, zizi, nini, bibi, nibling and grandy). This simple but recommended title from the queer and trans author-illustrator couple behind stationery company Ash + Chess comes out on May 7, but is available for pre-order at Bookshop, Amazon and elsewhere.

Who you will be, by Taylor Rouanzion, illustrated by Stacey Chomiak (Philomel), is a charming rhyming book in which two parents tell their newborn that they will accept and love him regardless of their gender expression. The parents are a non-binary parent and a mother or two mothers, depending on how you read them. (The publisher’s text is thankfully vague.) In particular, we see that it is the more masculine-looking parent, with short hair and tattoos, who was pregnant. Despite questions from others about the nursery’s pink or blue decor and gender-related clothing, parents insist: “That’s up to her, or them, or him.” This book will also be released on May 7, but can be pre-ordered at Bookshop, Amazon and elsewhere.

More non-binary parent names

I love that the album and book above showcase some of the many non-binary parental names used by real queer families, many of which I have collected over the years as part of the The Mombian LGBTQ Parent Names Project. These names should be displayed not only for the families that use them, but also to normalize them so that others can refer to them correctly.

More than 400 LGBTQ parents have already provided their parental names, non-binary or otherwise; I encourage you to do the same! (Your personal names are anonymous unless you choose to include them.)

More books with non-binary parents

My database of LGBTQ family books includes many more titles featuring non-binary parents or adults:

I look at this broadly to be as inclusive as possible; Please note that the identities of some characters are not specified, but can be read as non-binary. I recognize that different people may also have different definitions of non-binary; My intention here is not to dictate, but rather to offer a selection from which you can choose what suits your point of view and needs.

I wish all non-binary parents a day full of joy – and a life full of affirmation and love.

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