The Great Big Book of Families

Product Information

Lucy is a clever little cat who knows how to do everything. She can eat with a spoon and fork, play the xylophone, even fold fabulous paper stars. In fact, all her friends ask her for help if they cannot do something. When Toshi the panda arrives from far away, Lucy doesn't understand why he does everything differently. She becomes increasingly frustrated wh… The Great Big Book of Families introduces children to the fact that not all families look the same.

Clearly, the children are meant to be in costumes, playing dress up. As you see, one child is dressed up in what we're meant to see as an "Indian" or "Native American." Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

As we know, the publisher’s bottom line in making changes after publication is a monetary one. If a publisher knows that a particular book or series (or the company itself) will be boycotted over an issue, it’s more likely that changes will be made. (I believe that that’s what happened in the AMAZING GRACE series. And what happened when our review of MY HEART IS ON THE GROUND was published was amazing!) Living in a white first world country with white heterosexual middle class parents, I often try to find ways to expose my children to different cultures, family structures and beliefs. A challenging experience can make a young child feel as if they are in emotional free fall. As a parent, you can’t stop them falling, but you can offer them a softer landing: A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon. What is a family? Once, it was said to be a father, mother, boy, girl, cat and dog living in a house with a garden. But as times have changed, families have changed too, and now there are almost as many kinds of families as colours of the rainbow.

Categories: Acceptance & Inclusion, Adoption & Fostering, Being Different & Being Yourself, Divorce / Separation, Non-traditional FamiliesSome might argue that kids dressing up like that is an accurate reflection of what kids do, and it is, but it should not be something they do! Books like this reinforce that play and encourage stereotypical thinking about who we are---and that, of course, is a problem! Dressing up like that is similar to the mascots that were created to "honor" Native peoples. If people really wanted to honor us, they'd hear us when we say "stop doing that" instead of trying to defend what they're doing.

This clever book is taking a truly 21st Century look at family life... In spite of managing to reflect the reality of life for all families, the book refrains from making value judgements. No family is depicted as better or worse than any other – just different." Together, celebrate all the different kinds of special mums in the world with these marvellous illustrated books. A big big book about families! From big families to small families. From moms and dads to just moms or dadxdad or grandparents taking care of the family. And we don't just see various families we also read about other things. Like making food. Houses. Adoption. Talking with your family. And more. It was really fun to read and I loved the diversity in this book. Many colours. Wheelchairs. Crutches. And more. The problems in that choice are many. First, it is a stereotypical illustration. Second, even if it were accurate, it ought not be shown as an option in an array of dress-up costumes. The author, Mary Hoffman, is the author of the well-reviewed _Amazing Grace_, _Boundless Grace, and _Princess Grace_.This is a great non-fiction book to introduce the topic of families, particularly during a PSED or PSHE session around families. It is up to date, with a diverse range of family types such as children who just live with their daddy or families where there are two mummies and shows families of mixed races and families with members with disabilities. The book also looks at other aspects of family life such as housing, pets, celebrations and work through the eyes of a child. This book feels genuinely inclusive, with no situation being labelled better or worse than any other. Walking Brain Cells (blog, UK): “a warm, welcoming book where all children will see parts of themselves represented” Peace at Last by Jill Murphy [online versions with no text on screen or book with text, both from youtube.com] Introduce It’s Okay to be Different. Read the 1st half of the book, up to ‘It’s okay to say no to bad things’. While reading, pause to discuss specific children’s experiences.

This list is made up of books featuring characters who are blind or visually impaired, as well as books which include characters with glasses and/or eye patches in a natural and positive way.Books here cover a range of ages, from little ones up to teenagers. The difference in language might be a British/American edition thing. British English uses "fancy dress party" where American English uses "Costume party." Inexcusable either way. Update (1): Shortly after I published this post, a reader wrote to say that their copy says "Costume Party" instead of "Fancy Dress." They have a 2010 copy with a "reprint" year of 2011. I wonder when and why that change was made? I assume the original said "Costume Party" and that someone objected right away, and so those words were changed to "Fancy Dress." It doesn't make a difference. We know what they're doing. What it is called doesn't matter. This book covers all of that as well as economic status, housing situations, transport options, even pets. The illustrations are colourful and funny and completely engage any child, or adult who's reading this.

During December we will be sharing the lesson plans published by Highland Council’s Equalities Improvement Group and LGBTI+ sub-group to support the development of Equality and Diversity across the curriculum. 18 picture books have been selected; for each picture book there have been lessons created for Early – Fourth Levels (Curriculum for Excellence) driven by the Literacy and English and Health and Wellbeing Experiences and Outcomes. Today’s Lesson: ‘The Great Big Book of Families’– Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith Update (2): Celeste submitted a comment that I'm inserting here because it may explain the differences we're seeing. Celeste wrote " The difference in language might be a British/American edition thing. British English uses "fancy dress party" where American English uses "Costume party." Inexcusable either way." Mary Hoffman has written over 100 books for children. Amazing Grace, commended for the Kate Greenaway medal, and its sequels has sold over 1.5 million copies. As well as the successful Stravaganza sequence of teenage novels, translated into over thirty languages, The Great Big Books series of information books for younger readers, illustrated by Ros Asquith has done very well. The first, The Great Big Book of Families, won the inaugural SLA Information Book Award in the under 7s category. This list comprises books which include disabled characters within their images and/or story naturally, subtly and often without comment.