Honestly all, Family Found: A Queer Friendsgiving Celebration by Joanna McClintick and Keisha Morris (illustrations) is about family. The end.
Sure, it is a story about family and the members gathering for a celebration, and some LGBTQ history woven into the story with extras at the end expanding on this, but all it is about is family. It does not matter if your name is Bruce or Miss Mona (or both). It does not matter that your Mama has a couple of found mothers after she left home. It does not matter if Great Uncle Billy started the tradition with other Friends of Dorothy. It is all about family.
Therefore, this is probably the most unoriginal picture book I have ever read. I read a lot of children’s books, especially about family, so this is just one more to add to the pile. It is sweet, funny, and a little informative. It is reminiscent of a few family dinners my family has had (if we had less than 10 people, that was a small gathering). Sure, my family was biological, but over the years boyfriends and girlfriends, best friends of the nephews, and even a neighbor or two would show up. Once, at a paternal family reunion, there were so many of us, we fed the kids from the picnic next to us as well as our own. And trust me, nobody went hungry.
And trust me, you won’t come away from McClintick and Morris’ story. You will get the rich story of this found family, wrapped in warm, earth toned and medium detailed images. Read via an online reader copy and currently is available.
