From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-This book sets out to reassure children: "Wherever you live, wherever you go, there are all kinds of families." As readers journey to the zoo with Nellie, Gus, and their family, they learn about where people live, what they eat, their habits and hobbies, and how their families are composed, including references to single parents and same-sex couples. The prose is unadorned and economical, but gentle, and perfect for very young children. Digitally created images are bright and welcoming and feature a host of multicultural characters and diverse families. The conversations between Nellie and Gus featured in speech bubbles alongside the illustrations sweetly reinforce the messages in the broader text: "Right, Gus. Don't worry. I can be your big sister and your friend. And I am!" This book should find a place in classroom libraries, guidance offices, and public libraries.-Alison Donnelly, Mississippi Valley Library District, Collinsville, ILα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
This colorful, large-format picture book looks at families, all kinds of families, and all kinds of diversity. Families live in different places, eat different foods, and enjoy doing different things together. They have different numbers of children, who might be adopted, and different combinations of mothers and fathers, who might get divorced and possibly remarry. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, foster parents, and pets are family, too. The color of different family members’ hair, eyes, and skin may vary. They may sometimes be mad or sad, but families really do love one another. Teachers and parents looking for a picture book about diverse families will find this an obvious choice, with its clearly written, inclusive text and its large, cheerful illustrations, which show up well from a distance. At the same time, some will be put off by the book’s tone, which is unswervingly upbeat and purposeful. Still, a useful addition to library collections. Preschool-Grade 1. --Carolyn Phelan
Review
A welcome addition.
—Kirkus Reviews
Harris’s upbeat, nonjudgmental prose explains that families can diverge in many ways.
—Publishers Weekly
The prose is unadorned and economical, but gentle, and perfect for very young children. Digitally created images are bright and welcoming and feature a host of multicultural characters and diverse families.
—School Library Journal
Teachers and parents looking for a picture book about diverse families will find this an obvious choice, with its clearly written, inclusive text and its large, cheerful illustrations that show up well from a distance.
—Booklist
Both the message and the models should help adults start a conversation about their own families and provide children warm reassurance that “children and grown-ups and their families really do love one another!”
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
About the Author
Robie H. Harris (1940-2024) is the New York Times best-selling author of the acclaimed Family Library series—It’s Perfectly Normal, It’s So Amazing!,and It’s Not the Stork!—illustrated by Michael Emberley; CRASH! BOOM! A Math Tale, illustrated by Chris Chatterton;and Somewhere, illustrated by Armando Mariño. She is also the author of the Let’s Talk About You and Me series, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, and many other books for young children.
Nadine Bernard Westcott is the illustrator of more than a hundred books, including Who Has What? She lives in Massachusetts.
