Hello community!

Join me Online: On Saturday Oct 4, 2025, my picture book Love of the Half-Eaten Peach (beautifully illustrated by Jieting Chen) is one of five finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards in the children’s books category! They’re doing an all-day celebration of the finalists in lots of categories, and if you buy a ticket for the online ceremony (2pm-5pm Pacific) you get access to all the panels, too. I’ll be on the “Inclusive Representation for the Youth” panel at the top of the day (7am Pacific) with some amazing fellow creators! Details and tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lammys-day-and-the-37th-annual-lambda-literary-awards-tickets-1633024753999

Join me In-Person in Los Angeles: On Monday Oct 6, 2025, at 7pm Pacific, I’ll be hosting a screening of the 1925 black-and-white silent film Madame Behave that stars female impersonator Julian Eltinge, one of the amazing people I featured in The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie. After the 55 min film, I’ll moderate a fascinating conversation with Yesterqueers’ public historian of Queer history Amanda Timpson and Intersex activist and comedian Seven Graham about “Hollywood, Gender Boxes, and Beyond.” Details and tickets here: https://www.circafestival.org/event/madame-behave-1925-hollywood-gender-boxes-and-beyond/

A few children’s picture books with Queer characters and themes I recommend:

Menudo Sunday: A Spanglish Counting Book by María Dolores Águila, illustrated by Erika Mez. Cheers for how—at the same time as this a child-centered story about a family gathering—the two grandfathers are clearly a couple in love, and they are the foundation of the loving family portrayed.
Are You a Friend of Dorothy? The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings. I adored this take on Queer history. While I was too young to use the phrase, I certainly heard it referred to by older gay men. Making this piece of our Queer history work for children in a picture book is a feat of nearly magical craft brilliance, and I’m so grateful for it.
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis. There’s a healing reading this picture book about a Prince who’s supposed to marry… and how the knight who helps him save the land is the same one who wins his hand. (Yeah, it rhymes, kind of like that. But it’s super-sweet! And the dragon doesn’t seem harmed, just vanquished.)

I would also suggest the other four finalists for the Lambda Literary Award in our Children’s Books category. I’ve read two of the four others (so far, waiting on library holds for the others) and both Glenn Burke, Game Changer and Jacob’s Missing Book are brilliant!
• Glenn Burke, Game Changer: The Man Who Invented the High Five by Phil Bildner, Illustrated by Daniel J. O’Brien. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers
• Harper Becomes a Big Sister by Seamus Kirst, Illustrated by Karen Bunting. American Psychological Association Magination Press
• Jacob’s Missing Book by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, Illustrated by Chris Case. American Psychological Association Magination Press
• Just Us by Molly Beth Griffin; Illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan. Charlesbridge.

And I suppose, if you haven’t yet read my own
• Love of the Half-Eaten Peach; Lee Wind, Illustrated by Jieting Chen. Reycraft.
and you want to read all five of the finalists, that would be awesome, too!

That’s all for now… Banned Books Week is just ahead (Oct 5-11, 2025), so I may send out another email sooner than usual with timely news and events for that… And as always, I’ll include great Queer KidLit recommendations.

Thank you for being part of this community!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee