All Families are Special by Norma Simon. jPicture Book. Students in Mrs. Mack's class describe their families and learn why every family is special and important.
Always Wear Clean Underwear! and Other Ways Parents Say I Love You by Marc Gellman. jHQ772.5 G45 1997. Parents express their love in many ways.
Because Your Daddy Loves You by Andrew Clements. jPicture Book. When things go wrong during a day at the beach a father picks the loving thing to do to make things better.
Big Sister, Little Sister by LeUyen Pham. jPicture Book. Shows the part big and little sisters play in a family.
Celebrating Families by Rosmarie Hausherr. jHQ536 .H356 1997. Brief descriptions of traditional and non-traditional families.
Daddy Book by Todd Parr. jPicture Book. Presents a variety of dads and the things they do.
Families by Ann Morris. jPicture Book. What makes a family?
Family Book by Todd Parr. jPicture Book. Represents a variety of families, big and small, one parent, two moms or dads, quiet and noisy, but all alike in some ways and special no matter what.
Grandad's Tree: Poems About Families compiled by Jill Bennett. jPS595 .F34 G73 2003
Grandparents are the Greatest Because. by Adele Aron Greenspun and Joanie Schwarz. jPicture Book. Photographs illustrate and text describes some of the interactions and activities of grandchildren with their grandparents.
Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees by Cynthia Rylant. jReader. Henry goes to a family reunion.
It's all about Me by Nancy Cote. jPicture Book. A little boy is upset and jealous when his baby brother is born, but his parents reassure him that he is still special.
Kids' Family Tree Book by Caroline Leavitt. jCS15.5 .L43 2005. Geneology for children.
Lots of Moms by Shelley Rotner. jPicture Book. Moms are the same everywhere.
Love That Baby!: a Book About Babies for New Brothers, Sisters, Cousins, and Friends by Kathryn Lasky. jPicture Book. Describes how babies look, eat, talk, play, sleep, and more.
Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney. jCS15.5 .S94 1999. Using a family tree, a young girl describes her relatives.
Mommy Book by Todd Parr. jPicture Book. Presents a variety of moms and the things they do.
My Dad by Anthony Browne. jPicture Book. A child describes all the wonderful things about his father.
My Mother is Mine by Marion Dane Bauer. jPicture Book. As a young child makes a Mother's Day card, various animal mothers are shown caring for their young.
Party by Barbara Reid. jPicture Book. Two sisters don't want to go to the annual family party, but after they get there, they don't want to leave.
Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life by Martine Murray. jFiction. When twelve-year-old Cedar loses her dog, it sets off a chain of events leading her to learn some bitter-sweet truths about family, community, and herself.
There's Only One of Me by Pat Hutchins. jPicture Book. A young girl describes her relationship to the various members of her family, including her stepfamily, as they all gather to celebrate her birthday.
Twins! by Elaine Scott. jHQ777.35 .S36 1998. Photos and notes from parents show what it's like to raise twins.
Adoption
Allison by Allen Say. jPicture Book. Allison learns that she is adopted and eventually comes to terms with this discovery.
Blue Hill Meadows by Cynthia Rylant. jFiction. Four stories tell about Willie and Ray, who live in Blue Hill , Virginia , a quiet country town.
Dillon Dillon by Kate Banks. jFiction. During the summer he turns ten years old, Dillon learns the surprising story behind his name.
Happy Adoption Day! by John McCutcheon. jPicture Book. Parents celebrate the day on which they adopted their child.
Look Who's Adopted! by Michael S. Taheri. jHV875 .T35 1997. A turtle family explains what adoption means.
My Family is Forever by Nancy Carlson. jPicture Book. A young girl recounts how she came to be part of an adoptive family.
New Barker in the House by Tomie dePaola. JPicture Book. Moffie and Morgie are excited when their family adopts a three year old boy.
Our Baby from China : an Adoption Story by Nancy D'Antonio. jHV875.5 .D36 1997. An American couple goes to China to adopt a baby.
Over the Moon: an Adoption Tale by Karen Katz. jPicture Book. Upon receiving news of the birth of the baby they have been waiting to adopt, a couple travels far away to bring the newborn home.
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis. jPicture Book. A young girl asks her parents to tell her the story of her birth and adoption.
Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies by Ann Turner. jPicture Book. A boy remembers how unfamiliar and scary things were in his adopted home until he accepted the love he found there.
Waiting for May by Janet Morgan Stoeke. jPicture Book. A young boy looks forward to the day when a sister who will be adopted from China , joins his family.
Bi-Racial Families
Black is Brown is Tan by Arnold Adoff. jPicture Book. Rhyming text describes a loving family with a brown-skinned mom, a white-skinned dad, two children and lots of relatives.
Ginger Brown: Too Many Houses by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. jFiction. After her parents divorce, Ginger begins to understand and accept her mixed background and her new family situation.
Plain City by Virginia Hamilton. jFiction. Twelve-year-old Buhlaire struggles with her family history.
Trevor's Story: Growing Up Biracial by Bethany Kandel. jHQ777.9 .K36 1997. Ten-year-old Trevor Sage-el describes his life at home and at school, his feelings about being son of a white mother and a black father, and what he likes and does not like about being biracial.
Two Mrs. Gibsons by Toyomi Igus. jPicture Book. The daughter of an African American father and a Japanese mother recalls growing up with her mother and her paternal grandmother.
Divorce
Amber Brown Sees Red by Paula Danziger. jFiction. Amber deals with fights between her divorced parents.
Arthur and the 1,001 Dads by Stephen Krensky. jFiction. Arthur and his friends try to find a substitute to attend the Father's Day picnic with Buster, whose father is not around much since his parents' divorce.
Help!: a Girl's Guide to Divorce and Stepfamilies by Nancy Holyoke. jHQ814 .H715 1999. Answers letters from girls who are dealing with their parents' divorces and remarriages.
I Don't Want to Talk about It by Jeanie Ransom. JHQ777.5 .R36 2000. After reluctantly talking with her parents about their upcoming divorce, a young girl discovers that there will be some big changes but that their love for her will remain the same.
It's Not Your Fault, Koko Bear by Vicki Lansky. jHQ777.5 .L355 1998. Koko learns to deal with the changes and feelings that come with divorce.
My Family's Changing: a First Look at Family Break Up by Pat Thomas. jHQ814 .T43 1999. Explores divorce in simple terms.
New Room for William by Sally Grindley. jPicture Book. Andrew is unhappy when he and his mom move to a new place, but he changes his mind when he makes a new friend.
On the Day His Daddy Left by Eric Adams. jPicture Book. Danny's friends, family and teacher reassure him that his parents' divorce is not his fault.
Two Homes by Claire Masurel. jPicture Book. Alex enjoys the homes of both his parents who live apart.
Foster Care
Grover G. Graham and Me by Mary Quattlebaum. jFiction. In his eighth foster home, eleven-year old Ben becomes very fond of a baby living with the family and worries when the infant's biological mother wants to take him away.
Happily After All by Laura Stevenson. jFiction. Through her friendship with a foster child, Rebecca learns to accept the mother she thought had abandoned her.
Ocean Within by V.M. Caldwell. jFiction. An eleven-year old foster child has to adapt to her new home after she is adopted.
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff. jFiction. A 12-year old orphan remembers the time she was happy in a foster home with a family that really cared.
Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson. jFiction. Ten-year-old Tracy dreams of living in a good foster home until her mother comes back for her.
Team Picture by Dean Hughes. jFiction. David tries to hold on to the newfound stability of life in a foster home.
Very Worst Thing by Torey Hayden. jFiction. David has never had a permanent home or a real friend, but when he decides to try to hatch an owl egg with the help of a classmate, his life slowly begins to change for the better.
What I Call Life by Jill Wolfson . jFiction. Eleven-year-old cal learns to cope with life in a foster home with four other girls and the guardian who lives there.
Where I'd Like to Be by Frances O'Roark Dowell. jFiction. A group of foster children build a home of their own.
Gay Parents
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite. jHQ76.26 .W5 1990. A young boy's divorced father lives with a gay partner.
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman. jHQ76.26 .N48 1989. Heather's moms, Mama Kate and Mama Jane, are a gay couple.
How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay? by Ann Heron. jFiction. Jasmine tells her classmates that she has three dads - her father, his lover Andrew and her mother's new husband.
Molly's Family by Nancy Garden. jHQ75.53 .G37 2004. When Molly draws a picture of her family for Open School Night, one of her classmates makes her feel bad because he says she can't have a mommy and a mama.
Zack's Story: Growing Up With Same-Sex Parents by Keith Elliot Greenberg. jHQ777.8 .G74 1996. A young boy grows up with his mother and her gay partner.
Homeless Families
Ceiling of Stars by Ann Creel. jFiction. Twelve-year-old Vivien describes being abandoned by her mother and struggling to survive on the streets of a big city.
December by Eve Bunting. jPicture Book (Holiday). Young Simon and his mother share the spirit of Christmas inside their cardboard house.
Double Life of Zoe Flynn by Janet Lee Carey. jFiction. When Zoe's family has to live in their van for months after moving from California to Oregon Zoe tries to keep her sixth-grade classmates from discovering that she is homeless.
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting. jPicture Book. A homeless father and son live in an airport.
I Can Hear the Sun by Patricia Polacco. jPicture Book. Stephanie befriends Fondo, a homeless child.
King of Dragons by Carol Fenner. jFiction. A homeless boy and his father find shelter in an old courthouse that will soon be open to a kite exhibit.
Lady in the Box by Ann Mcgovern. JPicture Book. Lizzie and Ben discover a homeless lady living in their neighborhood and try to help her.
Let's Talk About Staying in a Shelter by Elizabeth Weitzman. jHV4505 .W38 1996. Describes various kinds of shelters for people without permanent homes.
Single Parent Families
Alice in Blunderland by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. jFiction. Fourth-grader Alice tries unsuccessfully to avoid embarrassing mistakes and to establish better relations with her older brother Lester.
Busted! by Betty Hicks. jFiction. Anxious to distract his "overly" strict mother, twelve-year-old Stuart and his best friend, a girl named Mack, determine to fix her up with Mack's Uncle Joe.
Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson. jFiction. Ten-year-old twins face big changes in their lives when Dad starts dating.
Flying South by Laura Malone Elliott. jFiction. In Charlottesville, Virginia, amidst the social and political turmoil of 1968, eleven-year-old Alice reconnects with her widowed mother.
Junebug by Alice Mead. jFiction. A young boy lives with his mother and sister in a
rough housing project.
Leon and the Spitting Image by Allen Kurzweil. jFiction. Leon, a fourth grader at The Ethical School, tries to outwit the school bully and learn to sew for fanatical teacher Miss Cronheim, with unexpected help from his final project-- a doll with magical powers.
Love is a Family by Roma Downey. jPicture Book. Lily's single mom reminds her that their "small kind of family" is a family nonetheless.
Mum Hunt by Gwyneth Rees. jFiction Eleven year-old Esmie is determined to find a new wife for her dad and a stepmother for her and her brother.
Oh, Brother! by Ken Stark. jPicture Book. In 1952, two brothers, aged nine and ten, enjoy a year filled with fun and adventure in the farmlands of northeastern Illinois.
Ruby Electric by Theresa Nelson. jFiction. Twelve-year-old Ruby Miller, movie buff and aspiring screen writer, tries to resolve the mysteries surrounding her little brother's stuffed woolly mammoth and their father's five year absence.
When Mama Gets Home by Marisabina Russo. jPicture Book. A young girl anticipates spending time with her mother when she gets home from work.
Stepfamiles
Almost Home: a novel by Nora Raleigh Baskin. jFiction. Leah finds it hard to adjust to living permanently with her father and stepmother.
Animal House and Iz by Betty Hicks. jFiction. Iz has begun to enjoy the pandemonium of a spacey stepmother, mischievous stepbrothers and an assortment of odd pets.
Getting Used to Harry by Cari Best. jPicture Book. When her mother remarries, Cynthia finds she has to adjust to changes in her home life.
Help!: A Girl's Guide to Divorce and Stepfamilies by Nancy Holyoke. jHQ814 .H715
Mister and Me by Kimberly Willis Holt. jFiction. Jolene does not want her mother to re-marry.
Spike It! by Matt Christopher. jFiction. Jamie has to adjust to having a new stepsister.
Steps by Rachel Cohn. jFiction. Over Christmas vacation, Annabel goes from her home in Manhattan to visit her father and his new family in Sydney, Australia.
Stepfamilies by Fred Rogers. jHQ759.92 .R64 1997. Mr. Rogers explains that there are changes involved in becoming part of a stepfamily.
Substance Abuse
Bottles Break by Nancy Tabor. jHV5066 .T3 1999. A young boy describes how he
feels when his mother drinks.
Daddy Doesn't Have To Be a Giant Anymore by Jane Resh Thomas. jHV5066 .T56 1996. Family members persuade Dad to enter a treatment program.
My Dad: Story and Pictures by Niki Daly. jPicture Book. Dad's drinking causes pain and embarrassment to his family.
Miscellaneous
Because You're Lucky by Irene Smalls. jPicture Book. When Jonathan's cousin moves in, both boys have to make big adjustments.
Dorothy's Darkest Days by Judith Caseley. jFiction. Dorothy's boisterous life with her family changes when something tragic happens to her classmate.
Mama Loves Me from Away by Pat Brisson. jPicture Book. When a mother and daughter are separated by the mother's incarceration, they find a special way to keep their loving relationship alive.
Mama Zooms by Jane Cowen-Fletcher. jPicture Book. A young boy's mother takes him everywhere with her in her wheelchair.
Monkey See, Monkey Do by Barthe DeClements. jFiction. Jerry's father can't seem to stay out of jail, causing the sixth-grader anguish at school.
Permanent Rose by Hilary McKay. jFiction. While trying to reconnect with her friend Tom, who has returned to the United States, eight-year-old Rose inadvertently discovers the identity of her adopted sister Saffy's father.
Safe Place by Maxine Trottier. jPicture Book. To escape her father's abuse, Emily and her mother stay in a shelter with other women and children
What I Believe: a Novel by Norma Fox Mayer. jFiction. A young girl faces her problems by writing down her thoughts about her family's personal and financial crises.
For more information on this topic, check out these web sites:
- http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/talk/
qa/family_fights.html - http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/
feeling/home_family/single_parents.html - http://www.genealogytoday.com/
junior/sites.html
