47. All Your Children’s Books Are Belong To Us (Gays), Part 1

This episode marks the return of History is Gay after hiatus, and we're excited to be back in your podfeeds diving into the fascinating world of classic children's literature through the lens of queer authors. Leigh is joined by wonderful guest co-host, Aubree Calvin, to explore the lives and works of several groundbreaking authors, revealing how their sexualities and personal experiences shaped the books we cherished as children.

In this first of a multi-part episode, we're focusing on four beloved authors whose works were some of our favorites: Tomie dePaola, most notable for our favorite Italian grandma Strega Nona, Margaret Wise Brown, the bisexual poet behind beloved picture books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, Ann M. Martin, who introduced us to our friends in The Babysitters Club, and Arnold Lobel, the man behind the cozy shared lives of Frog and Toad.  

This conversation doesn't end here; stay tuned as we will continue to explore more queer authors and their impact on the world of children's literature in the next episode, coming soon!

Outline
0:00 – Introduction
4:51 – Socio-Historical Context: History of queer children's literature
10:00 – Who Were They? Bio Time for some of your queer kid lit faves
1:00:15 – Why do we think they're gay?
1:15:57 – 1:16:03 – CONTENT WARNING: Mention of suicidal ideation
1:37:01 – Closing and Where to Find us Online

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