U.S: New LGBT Jewish children’s book launched

February 13, 2013

By Lewis Rees

Image of a man wearing sunglasses and a rainbow kippah.

The first ever LGBT inclusive children’s book aimed at Jewish people is being released, Minneapolis-based publisher Kar-Ben Publishing has announced.

The story, named Purim Holiday, written by Elisabeth Kushner is the first of its kind in the English language according to its publishers.

The children’s story is based upon the story of Nate, a young Jewish child who does not know which costume he should wear for Purim, a holiday which celebrated the deliverance of the Jewish people in the First Persian Empire.

In the story the child wants to dress up as an alien, whilst his friends are planning to dress as superheroes. The child’s gay parents resolve the predicament by saying that it is okay to be different.

“I realised that my old idea for a Purim story was a perfect fit for this project, Purim is very much about ‘coming out’ as yourself – Esther is a great example of someone who comes out of the closet for a good cause – and I thought that would be a good setting for a book about a kid with gay parents,” Kushner said in a recent interview with Kar-Ben.