All of a Kind Family Uptown

I read and re-read these three books as a 9 year old Catholic school kid and to this day I can remember the Jewish holidays and customs from this book more than from any other source. While I was quite into being Catholic, I did consider converting to Judaism just for holidays (I didn't know about the jokes then.) I still recall the kids' names, personalities and the turn of the century clothes they wore. I read the books during the 60s, and my niece read them in the 80s. I would be very surprised if kids today don't love them just as much. After all, the material culture of the first two decades of the 20th century was already profoundly alien to a 1960s child. That's what made them fascinating--so near and yet so far. Today's kids would find them even more interesting for the even greater distance. When I read them, the kids in the book (no last name!) could still be alive and not even that old. Now almost a hundred years have passed. Their charm is even more sought after.

Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, Gertie, and baby Charlie move with their parents from New York's lower East Side to the Bronx in this wonderful sequel. In this story, Ella's beau joins the army to fight for the cause in WWI. You briefly learn about how the city was coping with the war over seas and about more Jewish traditions. This story is an educational delight for all ages and should be reprinted for the next generation of readers.

...I loved the entire series as a child, and this book was noexception. This book is also an excellent learning tool for children,Jewish or non-Jewish looking to learn more about Jewish culture in the earlier part of this century. The author writes with such a genuine affection for her subjects (her own family, apparently), the reader can't help but be drawn into the world of the story...END

I loved the whole series of All of a Kind Family books. I can't believe they are out of print. Incidentally, it takes place during World War I, not WWII as another reviewer stated.