Pepíto Has a Doll: A Queer, Bilingual Children’s Book

The LGBTQ community is slowly but surely making its way into the mainstream. On January 20, a queer and bilingual children’s book, Pepíto Has a Doll, will be available to the public.

“Pepito Has a Doll/Pepito Tiene Una Muñeca is our baby. We are proud co-parents,” say author Canchola Sánchez and illustrator Armando Minárez Monárrez.

The book introduces a young and shy boy named Pepíto. He lives with his grandmother and carries a secret only she understands. Pepíto’s only friend is a doll named Lola. He secretly keeps her in his backpack at school because the other kids would make fun of him for it. His grandma is the only person who allows him to play with dolls. Lonely except for his grandma, Pepíto prays every night for a friend, and then, one day, a new student, Miguel, comes to Pepíto’s school, and their lives are forever changed.

The novel will be printed in both Spanish and English, so it also serves as a learning opportunity in the linguistic sphere. The author, Jesús Canchola Sánchez, describes Pepíto as a 7-year-old version of himself. The school kids represent his family and their judgement of him playing with dolls.

Sánchez had his first book published at the age of 7 in his Chicago elementary school newspaper. Minárez Monárrez and Sánchez first met while they were doing work with undocumented immigrants. Minárez Monárrez is a Mexican, interdisciplinary artist, community organizer, and designer. They both have similar backgrounds growing up, and they both definitely played with dolls.

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Pepíto Has a Doll gives families an opportunity to talk about traditional versus non-traditional gender roles and same-gender attraction. Children’s stories with LGTBQ themes are uncommon, even more so if the LGBTQ persons are of color.

If you would like to order the book for pre-sale, you can here.