When a teacher asks her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different, but the same in one important way ...

When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways — but the same in the one way that matters most of all.

One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One has many stepsiblings, and another has a new baby in the family.

As her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them — family of every shape, size and every kind of relation — the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, it is special.

A warm and whimsical look at many types of families, written by award-winning author Sara O’Leary, with quirky and sweet illustrations by Qin Leng.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9
Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Sara O'Leary est auteure de livres pour adultes et pour enfants. Parmi ses oeuvres les plus connues, la série à succès Henry et les albums This is Sadie, illustré par Julie Morstad et You Are One, illustré par Karen Klassen. Diplômée du programme de création littéraire de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique, elle a enseigné la scénarisation et l'écriture pour enfants à l'Université Concordia.

Sara O'Leary is a writer of fiction for both adults and children. She is the author of the award-winning series of Henry books and This Is Sadie, illustrated by Julie Morstad, and You Are One, illustrated by Karen Klassen. A graduate of the UBC Creative Writing Program, she has taught screenwriting and writing for children at Concordia University in Montreal.

Sara O'Leary's profile page

Qin Leng was born in Shanghai, China. At the age of five, she moved with her family to Bordeaux, France, where she spent the next four years. Soon after, she moved to Montreal, where she spent the rest of her childhood. Having been born in Asia but raised in the West, she uses both cultures as her source of inspiration. Looking at her illustrations, one can see the presence of both East and West.Qin Leng comes from a family of artists, where the visual senses have always been of the utmost importance. She grew up watching her father work with acrylics, pastel, and ink. Father and daughter often spent their days drawing side by side. Drawing first started as a hobby, but soon became a way of expression.Despite her many years of study to become a biologist, Qin decided at the age of 20 to follow the same path as her father and enrolled in the School of Cinema to study Film Animation at Concordia University. She has produced animated shorts, which were nominated in various nationa

Qin Leng's profile page

• Commended, USBBY's Outstanding International Books List
• Short-listed, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
• Commended, Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year
• Commended, CBC Best Books of 2016
• Commended, OLA Best Bets Top Ten
• Commended, Toronto Public Library's First and Best List

[R]aucous and relatable.

LitHub

A sweet and tender tale that shows that families are composed of love regardless of how they may be configured.

School Library Journal, starred review

The broad diversity of family constellations is refreshing . . . A-plus fabulous.

Kirkus, starred review

Leng's drawings of domestic life are, like O'Leary's writing, winsome but never sentimental. Together they offer a straightforward, optimistic view of everyday modern life.

Publishers Weekly, starred review