A warm-hearted introduction to the many different kinds of families that exist all of which are reflected in Ros Asquith’s witty and unfailingly sympathetic illustrations. The open-minded discussion of what makes a family will reassure all children about their own situation as well as promoting tolerance of differences and how they may have come about.
This book takes one element of The Great Big Book of Families – the arrival of new members into a family – and explores all the different ways a baby or child can become part of a family. The book includes natural birth within a nuclear family, adoption, fostering, same sex families and many other aspects of bringing babies or children into a family. The approach will follow the Great Big Book series, with twelve double spreads each exploring one theme, and including lots of humour, jokes and fun along the way. This is a unique information book, with an important and positive message – every family is different and every family is equally valid and special, no matter how or when the children arrive.
Selected by Fiona Noble as a highlight of the season in The Bookseller Children’s Buyer’s Guide: ‘… a really important, accessible book tackling a complex subject with humour and sensitivity.’
Selected by Marilyn Brocklehurst as a September highlight in The Bookseller: ‘… describes all combinations of families in different circumstances, offering lots of points for discussion. Asquith's exuberant illustrations add life to this entertaining book.’
Author
About Mary Hoffman
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.
Mary loves to write historical fiction and her books for Bloomsbury - The Falconer’s Knot, Troubadour and David - have been followed by Shakespeare’s Ghost and now The Ravenmaster’s Boy. She runs a widely-read blog called The History Girls: https://the-history-girls.blogspot.com
Mary is an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association (CILIP) and lives in Oxfordshire.
