Written by: Sara O’Leary
Illustrated by: Qin Leng
For Ages: 4-7 years
Language: English
Topics Covered: Family, Self-Acceptance, Foster Families, LGBT, Acceptance, Family Structure.
Summary: This book covers a multitude of family types when a teacher asks their class to describe who they live with. The narrator is nervous, because their family “is not like everybody else”. Families with lots of kids, two singing moms, lots of grandparents, families that look alike and not alike, shared custody, and interracial families are described. The narrator listens to all of the different families in their class before reflecting on their own family. The narrator remembers a time when at the park, someone asked their foster mother to “point out their real children” and their mother’s heartwarming response.
This book is very comprehensive in terms of family structure. The illustrations are adorable and diverse. The descriptions the children give are believable, and humorous. This book would be a great addition to a classroom unit on family or community, or for the beginning of the school year when many students learn about each other’s home life.
About the Author & the Illustrator:
Sara O’Leary (she/her) is a writer of fiction for both adults and children. She is the author of the award-winning series of Henry books — When You Were Small, Where You Came From and When I Was Small — and This Is Sadie, all illustrated by Julie Morstad, and You Are One, illustrated by Karen Klassen. A graduate of the UBC Creative Writing Program, she has taught screenwriting and writing for children at Concordia University in Montreal.
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