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


Want to help us continue to make the show? Support us on Patreon
and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special
minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to
hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture
Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way!
You can also get merch in our store! Shirts, hoodies, totes,
mugs, magnets, and other neat things!


If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and
hard of hearing fans, please head on over to
www.historyisgaypodcast.com/transcribe to join the team of
volunteers!


Find our full list of sources and bonus content at
www.historyisgaypodcast.com. Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and
Tumblr, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't
forget to rate and review so more folks can see the
show!