Customer Reviews

All Kinds of Families!

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am in love with this book. The words and sentiment are perfect. It really touches my heart everytime I read it with my children. The author Hoberman uses humor in grouping everyday objects into families but also explains to children that they are changing, altering and creating families when they are born and that they may someday create their own family. The sentiment is heartfelt. The artwork is just as beautiful as the words. Marc Boutavant is my new favorite childrens artist. My one and half year old wants to read this book everynight before bed because there is just so much to look at. I will be giving this book as a gift at every baby shower I attend. It is perfect for a new mom and baby!

This book has wonderful illustrations. We couldnt get over the colors and details on every page, not to mention the charming story to go along. I recommend this book to everyone that wants a good read for children AND adults alike.

I don't know what to make of this book. All Kinds of Families has the kind of metaphor-rich lyricism that I love about Hoberman's award-winning A House Is a House for Me, but it some ways it ends up seeming to be more about set theory than about families.

I had this in mind for a child I know who has a rather complicated family situation, even though it's definitely not a book that explicitly states "divorced/blended/lesbian/step/adopted families are families too!" (although that is implied, of course).

The emphasis seems to be two part: (1) You are part of a family and a legacy and a future by dint of your existence, and (2) any conglomeration of items, objects or people can be a family should you choose to make it so. (Hmmm...I wonder if this book would make more sense to children than it would to adults with a didactic agenda in mind?)

The illustrations are interesting, which is not to say that they are either good or bad. They're sort of in that "Japanese kawaii" cutesy style, and they're so tangerine-colored and googly-eyed, if you know what I mean, that they can be a little distracting, but then again, there's a lot of wit to be found in the details, so a deeper look can be worthwhile.

Long story short, I'm glad that I checked this out from the library before buying on the basis of Hoberman's "brand name" alone, and I think I'm going to sit with it, so to speak, for a while before deciding if it's really something worth paying for.

I have a blended family and my oldest son is 6 years old. He and I were alone until I met my husband. He has always considered my husband his father and he is at the age where we need to start talking about the difference between his "daddy" and the person that helped bring him into the world. His biological father disappeared never to be heard from again. Our family counselor suggested I look for books to talk about what makes a real family and my son loved this book. We are taking very slow steps, but this is a wonderful way to start.

My husband and I, our six year old girl and our 3 year old boy all enjoy reading this clever, unique book and adore the illustrations. The illustrations conjure up good feelings. We borrowed it a couple of times from the library before deciding we had to have it for keeps.

I like to book but it is to long for my class of 3-4 year olds. Better for grade school age children.

My two-year-old cried when we had to return this to the library! I thought it was going to be more of a "Jill has two Dads" kind of story, but it's not. It basically goes through what kinds of things can be grouped together in "families." My kids like the refrain that's repeated throughout, and as always we LOVE Mary Ann Hoberman's work. I'm not crazy about the illustrations, they're a little too trippy for me, and my two-year-old is confused by the numbers that are made into animals at the end, but my six-year-old loves pointing them out and talking about them. Definitely a great gift!

This book is so awesome (as are Mary ann Holberman's other stories). Sweet and subtly educational (though i do recall one rhyming word used twice?) It is about all the different ways you can group things together (animals, stars and moon, saucer and dish, colors etc) Marc Boutavant's illustrations are equally as stylistically adorable.

I think it is important to mention that my only hesitation buying this book online was i was a tiny bit worried it might try to touch on complicated family styles. While i do think there is a great lesson of love for everyone in this, i really hoped it wasn't the agenda of this book. It's not. It talks about human families in a very sensitive and open ended manner, with the general meaning that family is what you make it to be. It really is a book for all views. This book would make a fantastic gift.

I adore this book! As a Pre-K teacher and huge lover of books myself, I'm always looking for quality children's books that are both well written and thoughtful but suitable for the age group I teach. I got this book last year to introduce our unit on families and, after just finishing the unit again this year, I couldn't resist writing a review. I love Mary Ann Hoberman because the rhyming,flow, and repetition of her books always prove to be so engaging and this is definitely no exception. What I love most is how she intersperses very meaningful things about families with the lighter, more silly groupings of "families" she showcases throughout the book. Simplifying it that way really helps the littlest listeners start to understand how others' families can be so different than their own and still share so many of the same qualities. They especially love the part about why each child is such an important part of his or her own family and is so special to parents, siblings, grandparents, and family members, regardless of their placement in the family. If the writing wasn't wonderful enough, the illustrations are colorful, detailed, and absolutely adorable and perfectly compliment the text. If you're not already familiar with Hoberman's other books, a few other great ones to check out are "A House is a House for Me", "And to Think That We Thought That We'd Never Be Friends", and "The Seven Silly Eaters". This is another new favorite for me!

Every page of this book is a feast for the eyes. My daughter, age 4, is delighted each time we read it and wants to linger on each illustration to examine the fine details. The story itself reads like a sweet little poem, and it's a hit in our household!