Linda de Haan

I loved the way this started out, especially the voice of the queen. But I found the presentation of the princesses rather off-putting: the first three were deliberately made to seem unattractive, and the fourth—the princess from Mumbai—was mocked for her long arms, which actually seemed kind of offensive. I love the idea of the prince falling in love with another prince, but I think making the princesses so unappealing undercuts the concept somewhat. It’s also slightly disappointing show more that it was love at first sight—I understand there’s not a ton of room for long, drawn-out romances in picture books, but it would have been nice if we got to feel there was some reason he fell in love with the prince other than just the fact that he’s male. show less

I found the art and story of "King & King & Family" to be more exuberant than the first, "King & King" -- the little girl bursting out of the chest at the end is so full of life. It actually is by far my favorite of the "gay family / how we adopted our child" books.

King and King and Family continues the story of a crown prince seeking a family, as he and his newlywed king venture into the jungle on their honeymoon and recognize the child-shaped hole in their lives. As before, Nijland and de Haan provide an overly simple story and characters, whose motivations are easy for young readers to recognize. They address non-alternative family structures with respect but without kid gloves: by refusing to address the union of King Bernie and King Lee (yes, they show more get names in the second book) as anything unusual, they model a healthy acceptance of diversity for young readers. They continue their highly colorful and stylistically diverse illustration, providing vivid and sometimes humorous backgrounds for their characters’ adventures. Like the King and King, King and King and Family is highly recommended for picture book collections in any public library or school library (thought it might be better fit for a particularly liberal school district). show less

This was delightful - the story that generated conflict across the US for showing two princes who fall in love at first sight, get married, and live happily ever after.
It's a lovely fractured fairy tale - not only does the prince marry a prince, but there is a wonderfully diverse bunch of princesses, and one of them ends up with the footman. The Crown Kitty shows up on almost every page up to some stunt or another.
The art is chaotic, and enjoyable, breaking the model of the impossibly good show more looking fairy tale characters - everyone is funny looking and full of character. show less