Customer Reviews

Heather Has Two Mommies: 20th Anniversary Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I appreciate the openess (since kids are much smarter than we give them credit for, the insemination would not upset children) of this book, but the lack of color is tricky in a children's book.

I have read some excellent 'current issue' children's fiction books which succeed in telling their story (and inspiring creative thinking) without using color (Days with Daddy) but the lines in those stories were well-defined. The hazy presentation of this book will ironically make it difficult to talk with kids about so-called alternative families. The most open message in the world becomes cold and inviting if it cannot appeal to the eye of the intended reader.

Plus, if colors convey mood, this same decision may inadvertently suggest the women and Heather are engaged in something secretive and not as valid when compared against the activities of status quo idealized heterosexual families. Ms. Newman may have completely different politics, but she seems to echo the far right's endless admonitions about sexuality and youth with the layout.

Future editions need to have clear color graphics throughout the text.Art is not benign, but a political statement as important as carefuly crafted text. It is difficult for children to be excited/proud about their families (or the existence of GLBT families) after reading a book which seems gloomy.

Both my partner and myself fell in love with this book. Our daughter also likes reading this book. She likes it so much that she wanted to give one to her class so that they could "learn" that there are families that don't always have a mom and a dad.

HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES, by Leslea Newman, is a story of a lesbian couple who decides to have a child through alternative insemination. At three years old, Heather joins a play group where it is suggested for the first time that she has no daddy. While the children are drawing pictures and discussing their diverse families (children with two daddies, one mommy and no daddy, a mommy and step-father, adopted family and nuclear family) the teacher acknowledges that "each family is special."
HEATHER HASTWO MOMMIES has been the focus of a great deal of controversy in school districts and with parents and other adults. This is a lengthy story which can be seen as an "explanatory book" because of the focus on spelling out how Heather's family began. Part of the story is dedicated to: how Heather's mommies were friends for a long time, fell in love and decided to live together, how they created a family, visited a fertility doctor and extended their family with a child. There is even a page or two on the types of careers the women have. Mama Jane, the biological mother, is a carpenter and Mama Kate is a doctor.
The discussion of alternative insemination includesvisiting the "special" doctor, putting some sperm in Mama Jane's vagina, and the sperm and egg meeting in the womb. This detail is needed to explain how Heather was created without a father. This section makes for interesting conversation among eight year olds, for example, who are beginning to question and understand the world of sexuality and family configurations, or even six- or seven-year-olds who are wondering how a child cannot have a father because "you need a mother and father to make a baby."
These issues and the book's length may cause the book to be considered inappropriate for casual reading with children in a school setting under the age of six. However, it may be an interesting selection to help support discussions with individual children on different types of families or, more specifically, for lesbian parents needing to carefully explain to their children how they were created. This was the first of a wave of literature which explicitly depicted and discussed a lesbian-headed family in the U.S. (published in 1989). For many families, this book was extremely helpful because it addressed some of the concerns of young children of lesbian parents which were not addressed in other children's literature.
One somewhat confusing aspect of the book is that while the black and white illustrations were appropriate for young children, the text seemed more appropriate for older children. Because of its illustrations, and by altering the text, this book can be used with young children because there are interesting depictions of the women hugging each other, of Kate's hands on Jane's womb when she is nine months pregnant, and of the women caring for Heather in a number of instances. The details in each illustration, and the way the black and white sketches do not prohibit the audience from detecting various ethnic and racial differences among the children makes them find contributions to works for children. At the same time, some of the details of the illustrations are incongruous with the story. The children's drawings of their families, for instance, are extremely detailed for 3-year-old children, many of whom are not yet doing representational drawing. This small criticism, however, should not keep parents or teachers from reading the book to young children.

I had this book as a child, and I absolutely loved it. The style of art allowed me to color it in as if it were a coloring book as I read the wonderful story. Heather is a very happy child, and she loves both of her mothers... and they love her too. That's really what's important.

Highly reccomended. I read it again and again... I own it to this day.

I cannot believe that this is still considered such a controversial book. I was a teenager when it came out and found myself amused but not really interested in the subject matter. Now I am a mother with a gay brother-in-law, and I really want my son to understand that families come in all different types. The bottom line is the love is the same, and this book really helps convey that idea. I also give this book as a gift quite often, to rave reviews.

First off all, this book deserves some credit for being one of-if not the very first- books for kids dealing with gay parents. This book has a sweet story and is appropriate for small children- not too gritty or 'adult' or anything.

However the attempt at showing 'alternative' families in a positive light backfires- the lesbian couple is a caricature of steryotypical butch/femme couple one might see on a... sitcom. The 'two mommies' reinforced a lable rather then break it and show them in a positive light. I'm sure the author was trying to be 'authentic' but all that was accomplished was the women looking even MORE different and 'weird' and heather looking even more alien then similar to a male/feamle household. I thought that was really unfortunate.

The illustrations should be in color to interest children.

The edition I have does not have the artificial insemination part. While controversial, that part would be important for older children.

It was not shocking at all; just straightforward.

This book is quite groundbreaking, and is excellent in the way it speaks to children about the differences among families. This book even does an excellent job of explaining how Heather was brought into this world using artificial insemination. Very thoughtful, well-written - a must have in any child's collection!
...

Several of the one-star reviews here refer to a different edition of this book. This edition (10) does not have anything about artificial insemination (to appease those who were offended). It is just a simple story showing lots of different families... not very in depth, not much to it, but a nice, "feel good" story line. I did not see ANY overt sexuality or "inappropriate" topics at all, as was mentioned by one or two of the other reviewers. I have not seen other editions so I cannot comment about those.

It's really interesting how the author, Leslea Newman portrayed not only homosexuality but the understanding that there are different types of families out there. It clearly teaches acceptance and open-mindness to kids. This is the first book on this topic that I've ever read and I would definitely recommend this book to parents in trying to introduce the concept of awareness to kids in understanding things that they don't think is normal, just because they don't come across it daily. The only thing that I think they could have improved on was using colored pictures instead of black and white, to catch more of the kids attention to the story. Overall, it is a great book, I wish more books like this are publish to minimize stereotypes and promote awareness.