Add Rainbow to Your Christmas Shelf

The Christmas Truck
Written by J. B. Blankenship & Illustrated by Cassandre Bolan
Age Level: 4-8 Years
Published September 11, 2014

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This inclusive story is truly a family favorite.

I absolutely love Christmas, but I struggle that the representations are often as white as the snow and skew highly heteronormative.

Enter one of my family’s favorite Christmas stories, The Christmas Truck. The child in this story (who is never referred to with gendered pronouns) has two dads, one of whom is a POC. It’s awesome to see a gay biracial couple in a children’s book, but I appreciate even more that it isn’t actually called out in any way. They’re just introduced as a happy, loving family, not any different than anyone else’s. It’s a very respectful nonchalance that I believe promotes acceptance beautifully.

“Our eyes are all wide open as we gaze at such a sight.
Who thought a big disaster could happen Christmas Night?”

This book has a fantastic message about Christmas being a season of giving. Each year, the family visits the “wish tree” in their town square. It’s a Christmas tree bedecked in stars with children’s names on them, along with that child’s “wish list” of items, most of which are the basic necessities that many children take for granted. The child this family chooses has a humble list, with one special ask for a toy fire truck. But when a calamity strikes on Christmas Eve night and breaks the toy fire truck waiting to be delivered, your family will be in suspense waiting to find out how the family will save the holiday.

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