This dynamic text offers a rare glimpse into the literacy development of urban children and their families' role in it. Based on the author's candid interviews with her first-grade students, their parents and grandparents, this book challenges the stereotypical view that urban parents don't care about their children's education. By listening closely to the voices of her students and their families, the author helps us to move beyond negative assumptions, revealing complexities that have previously been undocumented.

Represents a variety of families, some big and some small, some with only one parent and some with two moms or dads, some quiet and some noisy, but all alike in some ways and special no matter what.

Family Literacies demonstrates, through reference to empirical research, how shared reading practices operate in a wide range of families, with a view to supporting families in reading with their pre-school children. At the heart of this book, written by two highly experienced experts in the field, is a fascinating project that captured diverse voices, and experiences by parents, children and other family members. Rachael Levy and Mel Hall deploy a rich and distinctive theoretical framework, drawing on insights from literacy studies, education and sociology. Family Literacies presents an account of shared reading practices in homes, focusing attention on what motivates parents to read with their children as well as revealing what parents may need if they are to begin and sustain shared reading activity. The authors show the many ways in which reading is centrally embedded in many aspects of family life, arguing that this has particular implications for children as they start school. Situated within a socio-cultural discourse, this book explains why it is important to understand how and why shared reading takes place in homes so that all families can be supported in reading with their children. Family Literacies is essential reading for all those who are studying and researching literacy practices, especially those involving young children. The book will also be of value to students, practitioners and researchers in education and applied linguistics who are working with families and have an interest in the study of family practices. The authors’ findings have major implications for how parents can be encouraged to develop positive reading relationships with their children.

Who's in your family? Some children live with their mum and dad, others live with their grandparents or foster parents. Some live in a big house, others live in a tiny apartment. With captivating illustrations, Every Family is Different celebrates what it means to be part of a family, and reminds us that there's something that's always the same in every family...

Different can be great! Makayla is visiting friends in her neighborhood. She sees how each family is different. Some families have lots of children, but others have none. Some friends live with grandparents or have two dads or have parents who are divorced. How is her own family like the others? What makes each one great? This diverse cast allows readers to compare and contrast families in multiple ways.

Families can be big, small, silly, adventurous, loud, or messy, but they all have love in common. I Love Us! is all about the little ways families show they care: breakfasts made, play times shared, hurts soothed, and good times celebrated. This special book makes a wonderful gift for children and the people who love them on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day--every day!

A family keepsake journal for parents and children to record the magic of reading together Reading Is Magic is a guided journal in which families can capture that magical period when parents and children read together. It begins with a foreword by bestselling author and independent bookstore owner Emma Straub and contains recommended reading lists, entry pages for logging each book as you read it, and superlative pages for noting a child's favorite authors, illustrators, and characters. There are also entry pages where parents can reminisce about their own childhood reading memories. A wonderful gift to give at a baby shower or for any special occasion (along with a few books, of course!), Reading Is Magic is a unique way for parents to record memories with their children.