While millions of children around the world grow up in foster care, it takes one person to make a difference. Every child deserves a chance for success and a chance to change the world. In this story, young Sammy has spent his life growing up in foster care and various group homes. While he has a dream of earning a dog, he finds his way into a potential adoptive family. Sammy must learn how to communicate with others in order to navigate the big city and be successful. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” —Winnie the Pooh “Once in a while, someone amazing comes along, and that’s you.” —Tigger

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...

Is there such a thing as a normal family? Is one family better than another? Of course the answer to these questions is no, but children are often led to believe otherwise. Young people need to understand and appreciate that when it comes to families, they are all different!One of the world's most influential and loved authors of educational children's books, Dr. Sol Gordon has created an uplifting book for young people age four and older who are curious about just what it means to be part of a family. Some children, he explains, live with both parents, while others live with one or with step- or foster parents. Nowadays, we also find children being reared by aunts, uncles, or grandparents, as well as same-sex couples. The variety of possibilities is rich in its diversity. Separations, divorce, abuse, neglect, and sibling rivalries are an unfortunate part of life, but, Gordon emphasizes, they are not the child's fault.While the many illustrations show a variety of family situations to stimulate awareness and acceptance, the text places importance on children knowing they are loved by their family members-whomever they may be-and that no one's family is perfect. But children can play a very special and important role in making their home a happier one: It's up to you to be the best person you can be and doing well in school will help you to be a better adult, or parent, when you grow up, Gordon says.Sol Gordon, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist with a special interest in children's education, is the author of Did the Sun Shine Before You Were Born?; Girls Are Girls, and Boys Are Boys; A Better Safe Than Sorry Book, and many other books for childrens and adults. Ages 4 and up.

Weaving together personal stories, history, and analysis, Same Family, Different Colors explores the myriad ways skin-color politics affect family dynamics in the United States. Colorism and color bias—the preference for or presumed superiority of people based on the color of their skin—is a pervasive and damaging but rarely openly discussed phenomenon. In this unprecedented book, Lori L. Tharps explores the issue in African American, Latino, Asian American, and mixed-race families and communities by weaving together personal stories, history, and analysis. The result is a compelling portrait of the myriad ways skin-color politics affect family dynamics in the United States. Tharps, the mother of three mixed-race children with three distinct skin colors, uses her own family as a starting point to investigate how skin-color difference is dealt with. Her journey takes her across the country and into the lives of dozens of diverse individuals, all of whom have grappled with skin-color politics and speak candidly about experiences that sometimes scarred them. From a Latina woman who was told she couldn’t be in her best friend’s wedding photos because her dark skin would “spoil” the pictures, to a light-skinned African American man who spent his entire childhood “trying to be Black,” Tharps illuminates the complex and multifaceted ways that colorism affects our self-esteem and shapes our lives and relationships. Along with intimate and revealing stories, Tharps adds a historical overview and a contemporary cultural critique to contextualize how various communities and individuals navigate skin-color politics. Groundbreaking and urgent, Same Family, Different Colors is a solution-seeking journey to the heart of identity politics, so that this more subtle “cousin to racism,” in the author’s words, will be exposed and confronted.

"Simple text and full-color photos celebrate different kinds of families"--Provided by publisher.

This timely and sensitive title helps define a family, from members related by birth to stepparents and same-sex parents. Children will learn that loving families look after each other, even if they sometimes disagree or argue.

Examines different kinds of families, including a nuclear family, extended family, and adoptive family, and describes the interpersonal relationships that make them function.