great big book of families welcome to the family

We were sent copies ofThe Great Big Book of Families and Welcome to the Family, both by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith for review.

I was really excited to receive these, as I know S is getting to that age where she’s likely to notice differences between families – and the fact she doesn’t have a daddy, when lots of her friends at nursery do. These books are both designed to help explain to children, and show them that families take lots of different forms.

 

the Great Big Book of Families

The first page of The Great Big Book of Families

 

The Great Big Book of Families is all about differences in families: some live in a house, others live in a flat; some children go to school; some are taught at home. It’s a simple way of looking at all the differences between individuals and families, and is great for starting that conversation about what happens in your family, from the types of foods you eat to the type of work your parents do, the clothes you wear and the type of celebrations you have.

What I love about this book is that there aren’t many words; it’s mainly illustrations (perfectly done) that make it easy to read with younger children.

welcome to the family book review

A page from Welcome to the Family

Welcome to the Family is very similar to the Great Big Book of Families. Tis one is all about all the different forms “family” can take and is great for explaining that not all children have one mummy, one daddy and one brother/sister. It shows families with lots of children and those with one; families with two mummys, two daddies, adopted children, foster families, IVF, step families, blended families.

I love the way it shows all of these on an equal footing: “sometimes a family looks like this; sometimes it looks like this.” There is no difference in value or validity between any of the different types of family mentioned. Again, the illustrations are perfect and there aren’t too many words so it’s something you can use to help explain different types of family to children from a very young age.

 

We love both of these books; S has enjoyed looking at them with me a few times now and seeing all the different brothers and sisters and mummies and daddies. I think both will come in handy when it comes to explaining how our family is different from those of a lot of her friends.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

You can read my other book reviews here.

 


MamaMummyMum


Vicky Charles

Vicky is a single mother, writer and card reader.

5 Comments

Natasha Mairs · 20/04/2015 at 19:05

sounds like a lovely book #readwithme

Sharon Powell · 20/04/2015 at 20:11

These look fantastic! I’m going to look out for these for Harry x #ReadWithMe

Lindsay @ Newcastle Family Life · 20/04/2015 at 22:09

Oh these looks great at teaching children not all families are the same. My oldest has a different ‘dad’ to my yougest two and i am sure books like this could help explain things better when they are a bit older x #Readwithme

chantelle hazelden · 22/04/2015 at 12:47

These seem like fab books, very informative but the illustrations make them fun. thanks for sharing with #readwithme

Stacey Guilliatt · 08/05/2015 at 20:34

Look brilliant for those children who are starting to show interest #readwithme

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