DISSERTATION RESEARCH 

These are my key texts, the baseline research that helped push me in the direction I want to go. 

case studies 

It was suggested to me to take a case study approach at this stage of my progress, The first book I found was "Heather has two mommies" written by Leslea Newman and illustrated by Diana Sousa and published in 1989. The story follows Heather (the narrator) and her mothers (mamma Kate and mamma Jane). I've linked both the old and new front cover to show how the book has been modernized. The story follows Heather's first day at school, where she finds out she is the only child to not have a father. The story has narratives of socio-economics, sexuality, family, self questioning. 

In our mother house is a book written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco and published in 2009. The book follows the narrator and her family led by (Marmie and meemaw) alongside her siblings (Will and Millie). The book takes place across the children childhoods and the many stories they had as a family. The book shows a wide range of narratives such as race, ethnicity, socio-economics, sexuality, gender, family and  homophobia. 

My moms love me is a book written by Anna Membrino and illustrated by Joy Hwang-Ruiz and it was published in 2022. The story is short and follows a simple rhyme throughout it. The book follows a small family made up of a baby and their two mothers. The story follows all the things the moms do for their baby, the key narratives are family love, same sex parents and adoption. 

My aim for this case study is to analyse the depiction of same sex parents in children's literature, trying to decipher how both text and image portray a lesbian led family. By using a life span on 30 years between a historic and modern book it was easy to see how the depictions had changed.