We Are Family

by Patricia Hegarty, Ryan Wheatcroft (Illustrator)

Overview

Rush and his stepmother Corrine go to lunch, leading to an unexpected outcome. Meanwhile, Alex’s marriage becomes strained because of his relationship with Rush. Later, Rush helps a bail officer with his injured bounty, ending in a harrowing situation and Eve tries to embrace the need for balance between her work and personal life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781680100549
Publisher:	Tiger Tales
Publication date:	03/28/2017
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	51,370
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

Editorial Reviews

Many different compositions of families are represented in this book, including multi-ethnic, same-sex, multi-generational, blended, adoptive, and single-parent families. Young readers will likely be able to identify with at least one family from the broad spectrum depicted. Written in rhyming verse, each page offers a couplet describing concepts such as the consistency of families, the ways families dine together, leisure activities, emotional support in adverse situations, problem solving, and familial affection. Each two-page spread shows a collage of warm-toned illustrations of the ten families going about the highs and lows of their days. The awkward meter of the rhyming verse does not flow well as a read-aloud, and the frequent clichés prevent this book from having a deep impact. The overall theme of the book is the unwavering comfort and security that a family relationship brings, and its conclusion showing the children in their beds would make it a suitable bedtime book. Reviewer: Michele Hughes; Ages 4 to 8.

Children's Literature - Michele Hughes

03/01/2017
PreS-Gr 1—This book's adequate verse sends the message that family means the people you rely on through thick and thin. "Each family is different; it may be large or small./We may look like each other—or not alike at all./No matter where we live, or our color, creed, or name—/In each and every family, the love is all the same." Each spread has a theme, such as school, play, illness, or bedtime, and shows a small scene from 10 different families' lives. Although the characters are all uniformly tall and thin, the groups are otherwise very diverse. There are families with two moms, two dads, and a single mother, as well as a transracial adoption, a child raised by grandparents, a large family with four children, and a family who could be the result of an interracial marriage or a remarriage. A variety of ethnicities are represented, and one of the children is in a wheelchair. The stylish, angular digital illustrations are where this title really shines. Readers will enjoy poring over the pictures to follow each family's individual adventures and telling their own stories about the small vignettes. VERDICT A serviceable choice for large collections and those looking to showcase family diversity.—Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

School Library Journal

2016-12-21
Unconditional love is the common denominator linking the several families whose lives are explored in this picture book. Regardless of differences in appearance and composition, the families portrayed at meal times, while commuting, enjoying leisure time, and caring for one another are fundamentally more alike than not, a point that is reinforced throughout in rhyming couplets: "No matter where we live, or our color, creed, or name— / In each and every family, the love is all the same." (Oddly, given the mention of "creed," the illustrations are devoid of religious signifiers, such as crucifixes, yarmulkes, or headscarves.) Although there are no multigenerational households portrayed, there are traditional nuclear families of different races, a blended family, a transracially adopted child, same-sex parents, grandparents raising a child, a single mother and child, multiracial families, and a child in a wheelchair. While the text occasionally feels labored, the bright, clear illustrations have a stylish, slightly retro feel to them and truly steal the show. Children will enjoy spotting tiny details in the pictures and following families from page to page. Aimed at young readers at a stage when they are intensely curious about other people (and highly receptive to positive messages about diversity), this British import is ideal for sparking natural conversations about differences. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews