“Families are different”

Families are different
Author: Nina Pellegrini

Illustrator: Nina Pellegrini

Genre: Multicultural book

Grade Level: K to 5^th grade

This book introduces Nico. A happy girl who lives with her adoptive mom and dad. She has a sister who too is adopted and a dog that she often plays with. Nico knows that she is adopted and loves her family. But after a brief introduction, she ponders why she does not look like her mom or dad. She asks her mother who sweetly tells her that every family is different. She gives her examples from grandparents raising kids to single mother and father raising kids. A big or small family. A mix culture family and much more. To this, Nico finally understands that you don't have to look like your parents in order to be considered a family. All you need is care and infinite love towards each other to be considered a happy family.

This book is a picture book. The illustration takes a majority of the page which is great for children.  The illustrations in this book are realistic and great. The illustrations have borders around it while the text is either at the bottom or top of the page. An easily readable book. 

Thoughts:

For a book that is so thin, it has a powerful message attached to it. Love conquers all. This is a perfect book to teach young students who do not have a traditional family background. The time has changed so much that more and more family looks different from the traditional standard. Like Nico, I am sure there will be students in our class that feel different from the others because of the family. But this book will help a lot on the young student's mind to feel at ease that family is family. As long as they love you and cherish you.