Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5. Combining interviews and engaging color photos, Kuklin's latest book shows the diversity of families in America. Each of the 15 double-page spreads focuses on one family, illustrated by three photographs: a family portrait, a picture of the children, and a photo from the family's own collection. The text consists of the children's wide-ranging and occasionally disjointed comments about themselves, their siblings, their parents, and aspects of their lives such as religion, divorce, Down syndrome, and growing up in a biracial family. Readers may not want to pursue all this in one sitting, but each story is interesting. Eloise, adopted at a Chinese orphanage, wonders about her birth parents. Ella, who has two fathers, tells how her family dealt with Moms Weekend at her sleep-away camp. Joshua and his twin sisters, Ashley and Kati, talk about twinship, hobbies, and Korean elements in their daily lives. An attractive introduction to the ever-stretching definition of family. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-This book consists of interviews with the children from 15 different families, including mixed-race, immigrant, gay, lesbian, and divorced, as well as single parents and families for whom religion is a focal point. The children may be adopted, have special needs, be only children or have multiple siblings, and, of course, the characteristics frequently overlap. The interviews focus on the youngsters' feelings about being part of their family: adults do not interfere. The voices are natural, and the children come across as individuals, not just representative of a particular lifestyle or ethnic group. According to an author's note, Kuklin allowed her subjects to choose how they would be photographed, including the clothing worn and what family mementos would be shown. Working with those constraints, Kuklin has composed sharp and vibrant photos that capture the essence of each of them. This book will be both attractive to browsers and an excellent impetus for discussing relationships and diversity in America.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Primary) Adults talking to kids about families often emphasize that while families can be very different from one another, the one thing they all have in common is love; Kuklin's photo-essay echoes this theme. The fifteen families featured include single-parent, adoptive, and immigrant families; gay and lesbian parents, divorced parents, and interracial couples; big and small families; intergenerational families; and religious families -- but each conveys similar feelings of warmth, mutual respect, and love. In her introduction, Kuklin explains that the children she interviewed picked the settings, poses, and even each family member's clothing for the photographs; they also shaped the text by deciding ""what should be included about their lives."" While the result is a text that sometimes feels incomplete and unfocused, the first-person narratives and the accompanying photos come across as natural, comfortable, and real. Adults will welcome the book's diversity and focus on familial love; children will get a kick out of the idiosyncratic, kid-friendly details in the informal conversations recorded here. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A family scrapbook candidly portraying many contemporary families: straight and gay, single-parent and nuclear, divorced and blended, Jewish and Muslim, bi-cultural, first-generation immigrants and families with children who have special needs. In a prefatory note, the prolific photo-essayist explains her working method for this volume. She states that she let her young subjects take the lead on this project. They speak to the reader directly. They chose what family members would wear and what special objects would be included in the pictures. The children also selected special photos from their own family's collections, including great-great-grandparents from Greece, a photo of an adopted boy from Sierra Leone in his home country and a traditional Japanese wedding picture with an American groom. The text is enlightening and amusing. Perfect for the ever-popular family curriculum unit that can also be shared at home. (Nonfiction. 6-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
