Customer Reviews

Love Is a Family

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A beautiful and tender look into the "modern" structure of the family through the eyes of a child who realizes that a family doesn't require a particular "shape" or "number" to make it any more real. As a city librarian, I deeply appreciate an author sensitive enough to present a story capable of being read to ANY group of children without pushing political or "alternative lifestyles".

Little Lily has a problem. Or at least, she THINKS she has a problem. Her family is "weird." The Family Fun Night is coming up and she is worried about being the oddball since her family isn't like all the other families. She only has one person to bring - her mom. No brothers or sisters or even a dad. Surely hers cannot be a real family!! But she soon finds out with her mother's help that families come in all shapes and sizes. There's the family with 7 kids or the children that live with their grandparents or the little girl who lives alone with her dad or the little girl who was adopted. Not only are each of these families different, but the way they show love is different, too! Lily soon learns that love, not size or shape or color, is what makes a family "real."

Touched By an Angel star Roma Downey draws from her own experiences both as a child with a single parent and being a single parent herself to beautifully and simply teach the lesson that "There are as many ways for families to show love as there are different kinds of families." There isn't much of a storyline, but then again one isn't needed to teach the important truth that no matter what your family looks like, the important part is that you love each other. Downey uses just a few of the many ways that families are made up to show the diversity found in families but all with the same characteristic of love.

The book is illustrated exquisitely by Justine Gasquet, drawing the mother who looks strikingly similar to Downey. Each picture is full of expression, from capturing the drama in Lily's face in her seeming dilemma to the flurry of activity at Family Fun Night to the fun-filled chaos of the neighbor children's bedtime pillow fight. The lively pictures capture the essence of the book perfectly.

We are always looking for books at the library that teach positive values to our children and this is definitely one of them. For those children who might be worried about how their family is "different," this book is a great teaching tool to show that where there is love, there will always be a family.

Roma Downey must draw from her own achings as a single mother when she writes this story. She lovingly shows how to wrap children in love when they are the most vulnerable. This story is valuable for all caring mothers and fathers, and reaches the vast majority of situations the children will encounter.

as a single mother by choice, i purchased this book to add to my (small) collection. my first impression is that the illustrations are extremely dreary and depressing as well as the language and the images of the other "non traditional" families. even the image of the mother is sad and depressing. i expected the book to be more cheerful. i will save this one and only read it to my son, if he expresses very similar feelings/wording about feeling badly about not having a large family......which he most likely will. that said, reading this book prematurely, could most likely creep him out. it creeped me out.

This book put into words everything I was trying to convey to my daughter but did not know how to make approachable for young kids and they do it in a really adorable story. I love how this book describes many different family styles and differences but then goes on to give examples of ways those families show they love each other. We borrowed "Do I Have A Daddy" from the library but I purchased this here on Amazon sight unseen and the tone of this one feels much for positive than the latter. This book does not address families with two mommies or two daddies, if you are looking for book that shows many different families consider The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman. Not only do I adore LOVE IS A FAMILY but my five year old daughter does as well. Well worth purchasing!!!!

This is one of my daughter's favorite books and has been for a long time. Our family is much like the one in the book. I'm so thankful to Roma Downey for writing it.

This a charming story of a young girl and her mom. Beautifully illustrated. I highly recommend this book.

This book initially delights the eye, especially if you are familar with and fond of Downey's TV character, and draws the reader in to a story in which every child is sure to find themselves and their family represented. Almost.

The absence of same-sex parent families is so obvious that it seems a deliberate act of exclusion. This is heartbreaking when the book is chosen by a child of such a family specifically in hopes of seeing a family similar to their own. There are so few books available for children of gay families that it seems a shame to have missed such an obvious opportunity to help meet that need.

Aside from this omission, the book itself is a simple story that can be shared with children of nontraditional, hetero parent families. With so many families today that don't fit the mom/dad/child stereotype, there is certainly a large potential audience for the book. The illustrations are colorful but somewhat dark throughout, and the author clearly received an ego stroke when the illustrator chose to portray her face so clearly as one of the main characters.

Overall, this book fails in what appears to be its primary goal: To be a resource for children of non-traditional families and to show the value of all families, whatever their makeup.