Uncle What-Is-It Is Coming to Visit!! by Michael Willhoite is a book about a brother and sister, Igor and Tiffany, who learn that their gay uncle, Brett, is coming to visit. Tiffany and Igor don't know what the word gay means. A couple older neighbor boys tell Igor and Tiffany that a gay person is a guy who wants to be a woman and dresses in women's clothes. The other neighbor boy tells them that gay men wear all black leather like the Hell's Angels. After talking with the neighbor boys Tiffany and Igor don't know what to expect and are scared for Uncle Brett's arrival. When Uncle Brett arrives, Tiffany and Igor have a lot of fun with him and think he's cool. Uncle Brett explains to them what gay means and they learn a lesson about the negative stereotypes of gay people.
Children's books about gays and lesbians are very controversial. I think that Uncle What-Is-It Is Coming to Visit!! is a good, child-friendly guide to introducing the topic homosexuality to children. The book not only introduces and provides an explaination for the terms "gay" and "lesbian," but it teaches children the negative stereotypes affilated with being homosexual.
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