Polacco, P. (2009). In Our Mothers’ House. New York: Philomel Books.
Brief Annotation: In this story, the young narrator describes her life growing up in Berkeley, CA, with two mothers and two younger adopted siblings. A wonderful book that celebrates the love and support of family, it provides a positive message to young readers.
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: Grade 1 through 4
Readers who will like this: Children who enjoy reading stories about other children, children who would benefit from a strong story about growing up in a nontraditional family
Response/Rating (1-4): 4, On the back flap of the dust jacket, it states that the author wrote the book to fill a real need for books that address issues of diversity for children and to honor the children she met that were growing up in nontraditional families. Using bright colorful illustrations and simple relevant narrative, this story fills that role. It provides teachers, parents and caregivers with an excellent resource for discussions with young readers who may be curious about traditional versus nontraditional families.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: What does nontraditional mean?
Polocco must be your author study author. Her work really is amazing. I like this one too, and it does start to fill a need on our bookshelves for expanding notions of family that more accurately reflect the families of our society.
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