A Family Is a Family Is a Family - (Who We Are) by Sara O'Leary (Hardcover)

About the Book

"When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways--but the same in the one way that matters most of all."--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

When a teacher asks her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different, but the same in one important way ...

When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways -- but the same in the one way that matters most of all.

One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One has many stepsiblings, and another has a new baby in the family.

As her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them -- family of every shape, size and every kind of relation -- the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, it is special.

A warm and whimsical look at many types of families, written by award-winning author Sara O'Leary, with quirky and sweet illustrations by Qin Leng.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9
Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Review Quotes

"A sweet and tender tale that shows that families are composed of love regardless of how they may be configured." -- School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"Leng's drawings of domestic life are, like O'Leary's writing, winsome but never sentimental. Together they offer a straightforward, optimistic view of everyday modern life." -- Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

"The broad diversity of family constellations is refreshing . . . A-plus fabulous." -- Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

"[R]aucous and relatable." -- LitHub

About the Author

Sara O'Leary 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.

Qin Leng lives and works as a designer and illustrator in Toronto. She has published numerous picture books in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Sweden, Hong Kong and South Korea. She has also illustrated for Save the Children and UNICEF.