All Families Are Special [Hardcover]

Norma Simon (Author), Teresa Flavin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: K and up

When Mrs. Mack says she will soon be a grandmother, her students realize that teachers have families just like they do! Suddenly everyone in the class wants to share information about his or her own unique family.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-When a teacher asks her students to tell about their families, each child speaks of a different configuration. There are big, small, and extended families. Children live with a mom and dad, grandparents, two same-gender parents, or stepparents. The youngsters mention adoption, divorce, and death of a parent and pets. Then, they discuss the good and bad times that families have together. The tone throughout is upbeat and positive. The bright watercolor illustrations depict smiling, multicultural people living in immaculate middle-class surroundings. This is a good book for introducing nontraditional families to children, but some readers might find the sunny cheerfulness unrealistic. Ann Morris's Families (HarperCollins, 2000) represents a variety of family situations with color photographs of multicultural families and a simple text, but does not include same-gender parents.
Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This is a good book for introducing nontraditional families to children."

School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807521752
• ISBN-13: 978-0807521755
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for classroom family unit, August 16, 2009

By 

Catherine - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Families Are Special (Hardcover)

This book is prefect for an early childhood classroom family unit. The basis of the story is a teacher asking the class about their families. Each page is dedicated to one of the children's responses and many different family situations are included. Two important ones its missing are single mom with no dad in the picture and gay dads. It does however have a single dad where the mom died and lesbian moms. Its a great discussion starter and jumping off point.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Families Are Special, February 2, 2009

By 

KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Families Are Special (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book and like the illustrations by Teresa Flavin's families. This is a book that show ALL kinds of families, and this is a book that the parent should review to see if it works with your family.

The book starts out in a classroom with the teacher announcing she's going to be a grandma. "Everyone is part of a family, would you like to talk about your families?" Families are made all sorts of ways, by adoption, having your grandparents live with you, single parents, two mommies, going to live at your grandparents home, family members how live in other countries, families include your pets, cousins, aunts, uncles and step-parents.

I think the author Morma Simon said it best on the "About this book page": Here's what she said:

" We remain linked to our families and to our family memories, throughout our lives. That's because of the powerful bonds formed in family life.

Kinship plays a significant role in shaping the personality and self-image of every child in a family. The strenghts children develop and successes they experience within their families shape the strenghts and expectations of success they carry with them as they grow up and move out into the world. The family environment influences how children thrive and mature; eventually it influences their ability to form happy families of their own.

We know that nobody lives a perfect life. Family life includes times of tension and hardship as well as times of great joy. It is up to adult family members to create a climate of love, security and optimism that will help children weather stormy times and find life's most positive values and experience.

The typical family picture of fifty years ago has undergone many changes. Today's children live in two-parent families, single-parent families, adoptive families, foster families, divorced families, and blended families. This books invites children to describe their own family group, and through thee discussions, to realize and appreciate all the ways their families are special, very special.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent but how do you not address formal and informal adoption in this day and age??, November 15, 2011

By 

Teacher "Trish T" (Santa Rosa, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: All Families Are Special (Hardcover)

The artwork is decent, the various forms of families mentioned are diverse considering other options I've seen and/or bought, but some pretty major issues! Instead of taking this opportunity to teach kids about language choice, the terms "real" and "not real" are used to describe stand in parents. Really? And while the author addresses just about every possible type of family combination,there is no family formed through adoption, foster children, etc. Pretty unbelievable to me!