Lesléa Newman's modern classic Heather Has Two Mommies relaunched with new art for a new generation
In 1988, Lesléa Newman wrote Heather Has Two Mommies after being approached by a lesbian mom in her community seeking a book to read to her daughter about a family that reflected her own. At that time, neither woman imagined that the book would go on to be banned, burned, defecated upon, read into the Congressional Record, and ultimately become one of the American Library Association’s top ten most challenged books of the 1990s.
Today, Candlewick Press re-launched a new edition of Heather Has Two Mommies featuring all-new art by acclaimed illustrator Laura Cornell. This edition offers lightly updated text and releases just over 25 years after the original came out, making this sweet story available to a whole new generation of readers.
When Heather was first published, not a single state in the country had legalized same-sex marriage. Now it is legal in more than 30 states, making the U.S. a markedly different place from the one it was when the book was written. Perhaps Newman says it best when she expresses her goal for the relaunched edition: “I hope that now, two and a half decades after publication, Heather Has Two Mommies will not be seen as controversial and can continue to delight children and adults alike with its portrayal of the many different types of families that exist in our society today.”
Lesléa Newman will appear in conversation with Gay Parent magazine editor in chief Angeline Acain at the PowerHouse Arena in Brooklyn on March 29.
###
Additional praise for Heather Has Two Mommies:
“For twenty-five years, Heather Has Two Mommies, a gentle, sweet-natured book that acknowledges the existence of different family structures, has been a resource for libraries and schools, a relief for parents and educators, and a delight to kids from all kinds of families. It has become a national touchstone, and ultimately a historic landmark of American cultural progression and regression. You really should read this book again—it will make your day, and it changed the world.” —Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show
Launch party details:
###
Heather Has Two Mommies
On-sale: 2/24/15
HC: 9780763666316 * Price: $16.99/$19.00 CAN
Media contact:
Erika Denn * Candlewick Press * Senior Publicist * erika.denn@candlewick.com *
617-588-4516
ABOUT CANDLEWICK PRESS
Candlewick Press is an independent, employee-owned publisher based in Somerville, Massachusetts. For over twenty years, Candlewick has published outstanding children’s books for readers of all ages, including books by award-winning authors and illustrators such as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo, M. T. Anderson, Jon Klassen, and Laura Amy Schlitz; the widely acclaimed Judy Moody, Mercy Watson, and ’Ology series; and favorites such as Guess How Much I Love You, Where’s Waldo?, and Maisy. Candlewick is part of the Walker Books Group, together with Walker Books UK in London and Walker Books Australia, based in Sydney and Auckland. Visit Candlewick online at www.candlewick.com.
