Daniel Gray-Barnett, All the Colours of our Rainbow, Affirm Press, May 2022, 10 pp., Board Book, RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781922711854
In the lead-up to Pride Month in June, All the Colours of Our Rainbow by gay dad and author/illustrator Daniel Gray-Barnett was released by Affirm Press. It’s a personal follow-up to Grandma Z which earned Gray-Barnett the CBCA’s Best New Illustrator award.
Gray-Barnett was inspired to create the book by his own life experience. He and his partner were engaged while waiting for same-sex marriage to be legalised. They then became the first couple to lodge their intent to marry on December 9, 2017; the first day the new law came into being.
Now Gray-Barnett and his partner have completed their rainbow family with a baby son.
“Thinking about the questions my son will face at school and in broader society about having two dads, I wanted to make sure all children can learn from an early age that not every family fits into the ‘typical’ mummy and daddy mould that we see in mainstream children’s media,” he said.
Each page in the book focuses on one colour and its sentiment – red is for life, green is for nature, etc. In addition to this, when readers turn the page a “a magic ribbon” of the same colour appears. The ribbons add to each other so that by the book’s conclusion all the colours of the rainbow are revealed.
Not only does the book provide a jumping off point for talking about inclusive families, it’s a great vehicle for little ones learning their colours.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
