A vibrant photo-essay looks at fifteen diverse families in New York City through the eyes of their children. In her note to readers, author/photographer Susan Kuklin notes that some children chose to be interviewed alone, and some with their siblings or parents present. All had definite opinions about what they wanted to share and also how they wanted their families to be visually portrayed. Kuklin invited each child to also choose one of their existing family photographs “to help describe who they are.” The families profiled have both heterosexual and same-sex parent(s); monoracial, biracial, and multiracial heritages; single children and multiple children; and represent a range of religions and religious practices. The voices of the children Kuklin interviewed are fresh, funny, observant, touching, and, above all, honest in this buoyant volume. (Ages 7–11)

No matter your size, shape, or pedigree--if you love each other, you are a family!


Moms, dads, sisters, brothers — and even Great Aunt Sue — appear in dozens of combinations, demonstrating all kinds of nontraditional families! Silly animals are cleverly depicted in framed portraits, and offer a warm celebration of family love.

From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1—Imagine a house with many rooms, whose walls each have a different color or wallpaper, accenting a family portrait hanging there. On a rustic wooden wall hangs the first portrait—a large family of ducks posing beside a still pond. The next spread shows three pandas in pink vests, much like the pink oriental wallpaper behind them. Each portrait features a gently rhyming line: "Some children live with their grandparents…/and some live with an aunt./Some children have many pets…/and some just have a plant." All of these appealing images demonstrate different ways of being a family. "Some children live with their father./ Some children have two mothers./Some children are adopted./Some have stepsisters and—brothers." The cartoon-style critters contrast pleasantly with more realistic elements—a bamboo plant, a slender ceramic dog, a fat ceramic cat. Families of hippos, tigers, lions, ostriches, and whales join the other family groups in the final spread. The loud-and-clear message is that "if you love each other, then you are a family." And imagine the many children who will be reassured because they have found a portrait of a family they will recognize as their own. A solid choice for most libraries.—Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN