Amazon.com Review
Lily storms home to her mother one day, demanding a
real family. It's Family Fun Night at school, and she's positive they'll be the weirdest family there. Her single-parent mom doesn't seem overly fazed, reminding her daughter that they are a "small kind" of family, but real nonetheless. Lily isn't convinced. She seeks refuge in the noise and pillow fights of her friend Melissa's crowded house until it's time for the school event, where, surprise! it turns out her little family isn't unusual at all. Remi lives with just her dad--her mom died and she has no siblings. Tamika is adopted and has a puppy. Josh and Tony live with their grandparents. By the end of the evening, Lily understands that "Love is what makes a family."
Devoted followers of TV's Touched by an Angel star, Roma Downey, will be thrilled to see "Monica" has written her first children's book. Any child who has ever felt mortified at the quirks of his or her family will find solace in Lily's revelation. Of course, all the families in Lily's classroom seem highly functional, as well as heterosexual. In the litany of differences ("They saw families with step-dads and step-moms and half-sisters and half-brothers. There were single moms and single dads and families made up of different colors of skin."), readers who anticipate something along the lines of "and families with two mommies" will be disappointed. But that's what Heather Has Two Mommies is for. Justine Gasquet's colorful, almost cartoonish illustrations will be another bonus for Roma Downey fans--the mom looks just like Downey! (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 2-It is time for Family Fun Night at school and Lily, who lives with her single mother, wishes she could go with a "real" family. Her mother tells her, "-most of the time our little family feels just right to me. Love is what makes a family, and we've got plenty of that." The child's fears about feeling uncomfortable at the event turn out to be unfounded. Lily and her mom meet a girl whose mother has died, leaving her alone with her dad; an adopted child; two brothers who live with their grandparents; stepfamilies; and half brothers and half sisters. The paintings have childlike perspectives and are effective in showing the young protagonist standing alone in her ordered, quiet home in contrast to the busy activity of the large, noisy household next door. The book sensitively addresses the issue of being different and finding common values in diversity. Children in nontraditional families might feel reassured by having their situation affirmed, but the message overpowers the thin story line.
Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
