An amazing new children’s book sees a prince meet a farm boy and fall in love.
The book, ‘Promised Land’ is written by Adam Reynolds and Chaz Harris.
As well as seeing two main male characters become friends and fall in love, the book also features a strong female main character, who is able to save herself.
All inhabitants of the book’s setting are equal, irrespective of physical appearance or sexual orientation.
“The [kinds of media] we consume as kids and young adults form our attitudes towards those around us,” Harris tells The Huffington Post.
He goes on: “Most importantly, they influence our attitudes towards ourselves. If you don’t see yourself in stories, you don’t see yourself in the world and I believe that lack of visibility creates the kind of ‘otherness’ we often experience as LGBTQ+ people. If we can be heroes in stories, we’re seen more positively in the real world.”
The authors dedicated the book to the victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting which left 49 dead and dozens more injured.
“I remember when Ellen spoke at the vigil of Matthew Shepard and said ‘This is what I was trying to stop!’ Harris adds.
“That was how it felt to us. After it was reported the man responsible for the Pulse massacre had said the image of two men kissing disgusted him so much that it had motivated the attack, our book ends with that image. We felt it was important that the lives that we lost could be forever remembered with a message of love and hope.”
As the book is already on pre-sale, the authors say they hope to both keep writing diverse and inclusive tales.
“We do hope to be able to bring more stories to life that feature protagonists beyond gay characters, that just seemed the most obvious starting point for us,” Reynolds tells HuffPost.
“We’d likely do this in collaboration with writers who represent those authentic voices though. Why not? There’s a whole Kingdom to explore!”
