New Children’s Book “Christmas Bears” Celebrates Bear Parents Everywhere

14th December 2023 John Hernandez

Just in time for the holidays, children’s author Danni Cannon has released their new book Christmas Bears!

Attention all bear daddies (literal children having daddies) and guncles! What if I told you there was a children’s holiday book centered around gay bear dads and their kids celebrating Christmas?! You’d be intrigued, no? Well, look no further.

Children’s author Danni Cannon has released their bear-centric holiday story just in time for the holidays and we have all the details. Check out our interview below for information on how you can get your hands on this beautiful and unique storybook for all the kids (and kids at heart) on your shopping list this season!

John: Thanks for joining me Danni. I loved Christmas Bears! I love how we are presented with gay bear parents with no justification or explanation in the story. They’re just two dads trying to get some rest on Christmas morning after a big Christmas Eve celebration with their kids. Why did you want to tell this sort of story story?

Danni Cannon: You know, as a writer, that was just the way the story came into my head. The vision of the two of them was really strong for me in terms of characters, and it felt so natural, I didn’t really feel there was any need to go into any further explanation. Just two really loving, adorable, big-hearted dads with a great crew of feisty kids who wanted, as many kids would, to go out into the snow and have fun with their family and friends. I also thought it was important to show it in a no-nonsense relaxed way… no need for clarification, or to underline their situation… just show how normal the family situation was.

John: Well, I certainly appreciated that. So many queer stories still feel the need to justify themselves these days. It was refreshing that yours did not. Are you a parent? Is the story based on personal experience?

Danni: I am not a parent, but I have worked with kids and there are lots of children in my family. I also have a lot of friends who have children as well. Before putting the book out, I had some of my friends’ children read the book as a test audience, I was very happy when all of the children were fond of the story. I really love fun loving adventurous children and I know when I was little, I would wake up full of energy and want to go out and play as soon as I could, and I also know that sometimes my parents, who are very nice, would, kindly, request, that I let them sleep a bit more… so I feel like I understand the situation of being the excited kid who wants to play and having parents that would like a little more rest before getting the day going.

John: I’m on team bear dads with this one HAHA. I can never get enough sleep! Why was it important to you that the two dads be bears?

Danni: I’ve known many lovely people who are bears, and in general I find bear folks to be very thoughtful, sweet and good natured. In my mind, when I came up with the story, the parents were very specifically two loving bear dads. It just made sense for the story. That’s the great thing about writing… you can create so many different scenarios with so many different types of people. Each story can be a little world unto itself. Also, at this point in time, I think it’s important to have positive, inclusive stories about a lot of different types of people.

John: Very true and what is your relationship to the bear community?

Danni: I have quite a few lovely bear friends. Most all of them are very kind, thoughtful, smart, sincere, open minded and just pleasant folks to be around in general. I recently went to a bear Halloween party, and it was a great time with lots of great conversation, music, food and a costume contest. I don’t think I’ve met a bear that wasn’t a lovely person.

John: That’s lovely. And how did you and Masastarus collaborate to get to those wonderful illustrations?

Danni: Masastarus is a fantastic illustrator and her creations really fit the book well. The art is really lovely and cheerful and helps set a great mood for the story. I couldn’t be happier with her art.

John: Where can we buy a copy?

Danni: The easiest way to find the different versions of the book e-book and print) is to go to my website: dannicannon.com Also, people can feel free to sign up for my e-mail list there as well.