"It doesn't matter who holds the child's hand, but whether they hold it with love." Two mothers from Slovakia wrote a fairy tale for children from rainbow families. Now they want to get it out to readers
They want to publish a book in Slovakia, which they say is still missing there. Klaudia and Lucia, two mothers of a young daughter, have written a collection of fairy tales for children from rainbow families. Not to explain anything complicated to anyone, but so that children who grow up with two moms or two dads can finally see their own home in the stories. The project, which was first created just for their daughter, gradually turned into a book about acceptance, safety and diversity. To actually publish it and get it where they think it needs to go, they are launching a crowdfunding campaign. "We want every child to feel love, acceptance and safety everywhere they go," they say in an interview.
When you wrote to me, you referred to yourselves simply as "two moms." Who are you, and how would you describe the story that led you to write your own children's book?
Our names are Klaudia and Lucia. We've been partners for four years and met through the internet. After a year we started living together and in 2025 our dream daughter was born. From the beginning of our relationship we talked about having a family and we both knew we would start one one day. But we wanted to complete our own home first and a few months after we did, we decided the time was right.
We were very happy when we found out it worked out. At that point we were no longer thinking just as partners, but also as future mothers of our daughter. Since the situation of LGBT+ people in Slovakia is critical, we were of course also worried about how society would perceive us. But our desire for a family was stronger and we didn't let that discourage us.
When we were pregnant with our daughter, we wanted to read her a book so that she would listen to our voices while she was in the tummy. At the same time, we wanted to feel the family atmosphere even then. And that's where we ran into a problem. We discovered that there was no literature in which there were two mothers talking to the baby while she was already expecting. We did find a book where the parents talk to the baby in the tummy, but everywhere there was just mommy and daddy. We decided to change that.
That's when we started writing different stories. At first they were just stories about what moms were like, how excited they were for their baby and how much they loved their baby even then.
Do you remember the moment when you realised that children from rainbow families in Slovakia were missing a book where they could really get to know each other?
That was the exact moment when we decided we wanted to read our daughter stories about two moms while she was in the tummy. But when we thought about the fact that, apart from a few Czech and English books, there is no fairy tale in Slovakia featuring two moms, we realized that it was missing.
No one has written a book where there are two moms raising a child. Where they show the child how beautiful the world is, the value of love and how important it is to show the child that his family is special, no matter what it looks like.
The most important thing for us was to put in the lines of our book the idea that a child should feel accepted and safe. Especially because we live in a society where a child is often judged for the way his family is. And so, gradually, a few stories began to form a book that now has 27 stories. At first we only offered it to Rainbow Families, but eventually it became a collection to publish the book, which we have had since December and only a few days left.
Was it more of a personal experience, a parental need, or a long-standing feeling that stories like this just aren't seen in the children's world?
Probably all of the above combined. Personal experience of how LGBT+ issues are perceived here in Slovakia. A parental need to protect our child as much as possible. And also the feeling that we want him to see that his family is exactly as it should be - full of love.
Someone once asked us what we would do if our daughter was bullied. Our answer then and now is that we will do everything in our power to change society's perception just by talking about inclusion and inclusion of all children, including our daughter.
What do you think it means for a child to grow up in a family that is full of love, but in stories, books, kindergarten or school seems almost non-existent?
A child can get the feeling that his family is not as valuable as others. If they don't see a family like theirs anywhere, they may feel misunderstood or invisible. That is why it is important to be able to recognize oneself in stories.
Children often perceive the world more directly than adults. Do you think it's more the children or the adults around them who have a problem accepting different forms of family?
Children learn by imitation, and that applies to everything. When they see how adults behave or what they say, they adopt it. They're born as a blank slate and they don't care who loves them. They don't care if they're loved.
How did you yourself think about making the book not an "explanatory manual" for adults, but a really nice, natural, fairy tale story for children?
Children don't have adult rational thought yet. But they have a rich imagination and perceive the world through examples. That's why we wrote our stories using examples from nature. Everything can be mirrored.
We humans are like trees. Every tree is different. Some are taller, some are shorter, some are coniferous, some are deciduous. Yet together they form a beautiful whole. It is in that difference that nature is beautiful. Just like us humans. We are all different. If we were all the same, our world would not be so diverse.
So, in order for the child to understand our stories, and at the same time to put the essence of what we want to say into them, we looked for diversity in nature.
Can you explain what your book is about? What kind of world do children find in it and what emotion did you want to stay with them after reading it?
It's a book full of stories for parents and all children, but especially for rainbow children. It deals with different themes such as inclusion in society and acceptance of every child without distinction.
In a gentle way, we answer the question of why a child doesn't have a daddy, but two moms, and support the idea that every family is unique. That there is not just one right family. A family includes two moms, two dads, a mom and dad, a single parent, a grandparent raising their grandchild, an adoptive family. In short, everyone.
In addition to fairy tales, the book can also be a gentle support for parents as they talk to their children about family, love and diversity.
Originally, this was a book just for our daughter. We wrote it for her. But because we knew society wasn't accepting enough, we wanted to share these stories. To let as many kids as possible see that their family can be in the book too, and that it's totally okay, no matter what it looks like.
The title, the illustrations, the language, the main characters - what was the hardest thing for you to hit when creating the book to make the story feel responsive?
It's hard to say. The two of us can complement each other very well. Lucka sees the connections and has very good logical thinking, while Klaudia is more of an artistic type. So Lucka always wrote the story and Klaudia finished it artistically.
We always had a good way of doing it, so we didn't feel that anything was really difficult. Probably because we both had one goal and one vision - to help better inclusion, understanding and a sense of security.
In Slovakia, the topic of LGBT+ people and rainbow families is still very sensitive and often politicised. Were you ever worried about the reactions the book would provoke?
Yes, of course. We are publishing something that doesn't exist in Slovakia yet, and especially at a time when our community is quite often attacked. We therefore have great respect for it. But we will not be discouraged.
We are doing it for those who do not yet have a voice and do not know how to defend themselves - for our children. We say to ourselves, if we were afraid, what kind of example would we be for our daughter? That's why we are here, and that's why we're doing this despite the fear and uncertainty.
Have you encountered any negative reactions during the campaign? And if so, what helps you not to give up in such moments?
We have to say no. On the contrary. Thanks to our book, we have met many great people, not only from our community, but in general. We've gotten wonderful reactions, people are keeping their fingers crossed for us, and they're already looking forward to the book.
It's incredible how many people have been able to come together for one project. We have had help from Rainbow Families, Inakosť Initiative, Association of Parents and Friends of LGBT+ People and many other people, to whom we would like to say a heartfelt thank you.
Did you get any messages from parents, queer people or people from Rainbow Families that confirmed to you that it makes sense to go for it?
We've gotten a lot of them and we really appreciate it. We've spent a lot of time on our book, whether it's writing, drawing, promoting the campaign, or reaching out to different funders. Sometimes it's challenging, but it's times like these that drive us forward, not only the words of people, but also the help we get in publishing.
You say you want the book to go wherever it is needed. Where do you see it most - in children's rooms, nurseries, schools, libraries, counselling rooms?
Preferably everywhere. But we know that's unrealistic at the moment. It would be great if wherever children go they feel understood and can be themselves. First, we adults have to show them that we as a society can accept ourselves as we are.
So the book should be where they want to explain diversity to the child and let them know that every family is special, just like every single child.
When the book is published, we want to hold community readings and combine them with discussions and different activities for children. We don't want to stop with just the book. In the future, we would like to create different coloring books with all types of families, memory puzzles, stickers, a book about two dads and anything else that will help children with inclusion and integration into society. We would also like to offer the book on the Czech market, because we think it is equally important there.
What does it take to publish a book like this today without a big publishing house behind you? Is crowdfunding also a way to see if there is a real social demand for a story like this?
There's an incredible amount. We knew it didn't end with writing and illustrating the book. Because we wanted to raise as much money as possible to publish it, we reached out to a large number of people every day who might like our book. We wrote to various organizations and companies, but often we didn't hear back.
Eventually we managed to raise the target amount and that's when things started to get colourful. We found out what it takes to publish a book. We had to figure out how many books we could publish, come up with bookmarks and gift packs to give to our supporters. We have to figure out how we're going to sell the book, where we're going to sell it, secure distribution, have a budget and not go over it.
Our book still has to go through proofreading, editing, graphic design, etc. As we mentioned, luckily we have people around us to help us with this, so we're not on our own for all of this. We are currently looking for options and a publisher to help us with all of this, and we firmly believe that we will be able to do so in the near future.
If you imagined a child opening your book one day and seeing a family similar to their own for the first time - what would you want them to say in that moment?
That his family is beautiful. That he would feel that it doesn't matter who holds his hand, but that he is held with love. Because home is not just a place. It's a feeling. It's a hug. It's a voice whispering to him that he's loved.
