Exploring Literature

Family

Families come to us in a variety of shapes and sizes — very large, very small, single-parent families, and many others. As children experience being part of a family, they begin to understand what family means: protection (and restraints); opportunity (and limits); hope (and disappointment).

Children learn that being in a family takes work and can involve dealing with a sometimes crazy-making sibling or tired mom or dad, having to do things and go places — even when you don't want to.

Books can reflect for children the wonderful varieties of family life and all the emotions that accompany them. From religious stories and fairy tales to picture books and realistic novels; from the strong loving families in Sounder to the horrible (and hilarious) parents in Roald Dahl's The Twits or Matilda; from the irrepressible Stupids to the unflappable Littles raising Stuart, a mouse; from the reassurance of The Runaway Bunny, Mama Do You Love Me?, and Where the Wild Things Are, to the longing for families in Peter Pan and Are You My Mother?, books express children's inner feelings and expose them to the diversity and depth the world has to offer.

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