Love Without Bounds with Drs. Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi

Full Episode description

Drs. Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi of CLC Collective share LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDS, a story honoring the diversity of family life and what family can mean based on our intersecting identities and experiences.

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Love Without Bounds: An Intersectionallies Book about Families by Drs. Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi

Page Length: 48 pages

Ages 6 to 12

This follow-up to the critically acclaimed IntersectionAllies: We Make Room For All honors the diversity of family life and what family can mean based on our intersecting identities and experiences.

Written by three celebrated women of color sociologists, Love without Bounds: An IntersectionAllies Book about Families is a joyful, heartwarming celebration of family in all its forms: multicultural families; LGBTQ+ families; adoptive and foster care families; single-parent and blended families; transnational families; families impacted by incarceration, detention, and deportation; chosen families; military families; and more. By focusing on the choices families make to persistently love and care for one another in the face of inequality and inequity, Love without Bounds is a necessary resource to make sure all kids feel seen and loved for who they are in community with each another.

Features gorgeous illustrations throughout by Ashley Seil Smith and a colorful, informative discussion guide that explains the concepts shown in the book.

NOTABLE QUOTES:

(13:05) “Family can be really complicated.” 

(13:22)  “Throughout the course of our lives, we may lose family, we may find family, we may rediscover family, we create our own families.”

(14:09)  “There is no type of family that is normal or best.”

(16:01) “We need to advocate for all families to be able to live and love and, you know, exist alongside one another.”

(19:26) “The readers we have in mind are youth that are going through ups and downs of family life and transformation, as well as the adults who continue to process the impact of childhood families and our current experiences as adults, creating families of our own.” 

(18:06) “All of [your] hopes, feelings, and struggles matter. Even in the moments and times that [you] don’t feel family, [don’t] worry because [you] will discover family again and again throughout life. Starting with this library room. “

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

• Website – CLC Collective
• Purchase the Book – Love Without Bounds: An Intersectionallies Book about Families
• Purchase the Book – IntersectionAllies: We Make Room For All
• Dottir Press – https://www.dottirpress.com/love-without-bounds

TALK ABOUT THE EPISODE:

1. Who is in your family? Who do you consider part of your family? What different types of relationships do you have with the people in your family?
2. What is a “nuclear” family? Do you live in a nuclear family? If not, what word might you use to describe the kind of family in which you live?
3. Dr. Chelsea mentioned that illustrator Ashley Seil Smith hid an animal on each page of Love Without Bounds as well as IntersectionAllies. Can you remember what kind of animal appears on each page?
4. Why do you think it’s important to learn about families that look different from yours? How does your family look similar to the family in which your grownup grew up? How is it different?

CREDITS:

This podcast episode of The Children’s Book Podcast was written, edited, and produced by Matthew Winner. For a full transcript of this episode, visit matthewcwinner.com. 

Our podcast logo was created by Duke Stebbins (https://stebs.design/). 

Our music is by Podington Bear. 

Podcast hosting by Libsyn. 

We are a proud member of Kids Listen, the best place to discover the best in kids podcasts. Learn more at kidslisten.org.

DISCLAIMER: Bookshop.org affiliate links provided for any book titles mentioned in the episode. Bookshop.org support independent bookstores and also shares a small percentage of any sales made through this podcast back to me, which helps to fund production of this show.