Description
When a teacher asks her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different, but the same in one important way ...
When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways — but the same in the one way that matters most of all.
One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One has many stepsiblings, and another has a new baby in the family.
As her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them — family of every shape, size and every kind of relation — the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, it is special.
A warm and whimsical look at many types of families, written by award-winning author Sara O’Leary, with quirky and sweet illustrations by Qin Leng.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9
Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 4 to 7
- Grade:
- k to 2
- Reading age:
- 4 to 7
Awards
- Commended, USBBY's Outstanding International Books List
- Short-listed, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
- Commended, Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year
- Commended, CBC Best Books of 2016
- Commended, OLA Best Bets Top Ten
- Commended, Toronto Public Library's First and Best List
Editorial Reviews
[R]aucous and relatable.
— LitHub
A sweet and tender tale that shows that families are composed of love regardless of how they may be configured.
— School Library Journal, starred review
The broad diversity of family constellations is refreshing . . . A-plus fabulous.
— Kirkus, starred review
Leng's drawings of domestic life are, like O'Leary's writing, winsome but never sentimental. Together they offer a straightforward, optimistic view of everyday modern life.
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
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Librarian review
A Family is a Family is a Family
This book highlights the diversity of families and increase understanding of family structures such as divorced parents, foster parents, and same-sex parents. This book will also help young readers understand their own families, and the families of their friends and classmates. Playful illustrations enliven different family structures and create a visual understanding of the differences that make each family unique.
Source: Association of Canadian Publishers. Diversity Collection Selection 2017.
