Who's in a Family? [Paperback]

Robert Skutch (Author), Laura Nienhaus (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Family is important, but who's in a family? Why, the people who love you the most!This equal opportunity, open-minded picture book has no preconceptions about what makes a family a family. There's even equal time given to some of children's favorite animal families. With warm and inviting jewel-tone illustrations, this is a great book for that long talk with a little person on your lap.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning with a traditional nuclear family and ending with blank spaces in which the child reader is instructed to "draw a picture of your family," this slight book catalogues multicultural contemporary family units, including those with single parents, lesbian and gay parents, mixed-race couples, grandparents and divorced parents. Kevin and his brother like their kimono-clad grandmother to help them with their jigsaw puzzles, while Ricky lives with two families. "Aunt Amanda and Uncle Stan," pictured riding in a blue convertible with their pets, "don't have any children at all" but are "still a family," says the narrator, because "they say Mouser and Fred are their 'babies.'" Because "animals have families, too," the text describes elephant, lion, chimpanzee and dog families as well as human families. (A human family headed by a mother is "like the chimpanzee family. Mama chimp raises the babies by herself, with the help of any older children she may have.") Nienhaus's lackluster illustrations, the schoolmarmish tone of the text and the comparisons with wild animals all tend to undercut the final definition of a family as "the people who love you the most!" Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2?Simple declarative statements move readers from one family configuration to the next, from single children to single parents to same-sex couples. Here and there animal families are juxtaposed with the human, presumably to show that certain situations are natural. For instance, one double-page spread shows a grandmother caring for her two grandsons while their mother is at work. The following page explains that the eldest female is also in charge in elephant families. While this may reassure some youngsters, it could also very well produce more questions than answers. Richly colored although somewhat two-dimensional pencil illustrations show loving families of a variety of races and colors in action. A serviceable, albeit surface, title.?Martha Topol, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Tricycle Press (February 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188367266X
• ISBN-13: 978-1883672669
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Issues > Social Skills

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good intentions, falls short, July 20, 2006

By 

Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who's in a Family? (Paperback)

Like another reviewer, I was disappointed that none of these families reflects the reality for so many children: you can have two mommies, or two daddies. "Mom and her partner" not only doesn't come close to describing families with two moms, it undermines one of the child's primary relationships.

And I just found it rather boring. There's no plot. Most children would much rather read a story, and I'd much rather they saw a variety of families within stories instead of having this friendly little lecture.

45 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I really don't like this book, August 9, 2006

By 

F. Weinstock (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who's in a Family? (Paperback)

As a white single mother of a bi-racial child, I'm always excited to find books that validate our family's composition. The problem with this one is that the main character whose family begins the book is a white girl who lives with her two white parents and sibling, has a dog and white grandparents. So the set-up is that her family is the "regular" kind and others are variations that aren't quite the same and are kind of exotic. I don't read this to my daughter anymore and I plan to throw it away.

58 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Non-traditional Families, June 28, 2000

By 

KB (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Who's in a Family? (Paperback)

We searched for months for a book for our son that showed ALL types of families. This one hit the mark. While the illustrations may not be museum quality, the message is clear and understated. We have used this in our Sunday School class and based a Sunday service on the idea that "Families Valued" are not all plain vanilla. An excellent book to validate YOUR family's configuration.