ABC: A Family Alphabet Book
By Bobbie Combs
Illustrated by Desiree & Brian Rappa
Two Lives Publishing, 2001
Revised Edition, 2025
978-096744681-3
Ages 3-6
Have fun with the kids, moms, dads and pets in this delightful book that celebrates families as it teaches young children the alphabet.
See a few of the inside pages:
25 years ago, Sally Lindsay and I had a terrific idea: to publish an alphabet book and a counting book that would depict kids and their LGBT parents in a completely normalized way. No issues, no struggles: just fun!
We were so proud to have created something that increased representation for our families. But after we’d printed both books and started to sell them, a friendly parent wrote to tell us about a big mistake we’d made in ABC: one of the book’s illustrations portrayed a white child dressed in Native American attire.
Ouch! It hurt to receive that letter, even though I’m always glad when someone shows me my missteps, especially regarding children’s books, which have been my passion and career for 40 years. We were not in a financial position to stop selling or reprint the book at that time, but now we have created a revised edition of ABC and it’s now available for sale. (You can download a pdf of the revised “B” page here, if you’d like to replace the old image in your book.)
I’m pleased to rectify a quarter-century old mistake. My learning continues, paralleling the growth in knowledge in my beloved children’s book universe. I’m also grateful that today there are many more children’s books portraying LGBTQIA+ families! Part of our mission has always been to tell others about these books in addition to sharing the ones we created. It’s been exciting to have a front-row seat to watch this market grow. — Bobbie Combs, co-founder and publisher