This Is My Family

ISBN 0307001377 - Little Golden Books and Gina and Mercer Mayer? Now there's a match made in children's book heaven. This edition, published in 1993, is marked inside "Published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Little Golden Books". Family - what a nice way to celebrate fifty years! Nameless Little Critters are introduced by the oldest child in the family. Dad works, so he buy the family things, and sometimes, when he's not too tired, he plays catch after work. Mom takes care of the family. His little sister is okay, and likes to tag along with him. His baby brother is cute, but boring and sometimes requires quiet so he can sleep. The family's pets are also part of the family, even if the goldfish isn't allowed in the tub. He pitches in to help his parents and be a good big brother. Even if they don't always get along, they love each other and that's what a family is. I've always found the nameless-ness of the critters a little annoying, but the story is very nice and the illustrations are excellent - some are quite funny, too! The relationships between the children are so accurate that you have to laugh. "This is my sister. She's no so bad. When I don't have anything to do, I play with her." Depending on your family structure, this book may or may not fit you. One negative is that, other than the ending, "we love each other a lot. I think that's what a family is all about.", there's no real opening for a parent to say "not all families are the same". Children not in traditional family homes might be bothered by that. If it doesn't reflect your family, young children might enjoy it anyway - you'll have to figure that out, but for the lack of being open to the possibility, I've got to detract a star. - AnnaLovesBooks

The children's book "This Is My Family" is a good book based upon a small Critter's point of view of his family. He tells us how well he does and doesn't quite get along with his family. that young Critter has a couple words per page that describes his family in a broad way to get a feeling or somewhat of a close attachment of what they are like. The young Critter shows us basically how his life is living and dealing with his family. He has mostly good comments based on the book, but some are quip remarks based on his inner thoughts.

The book This is my Family is about a young boy critter who explains his family to us. The book was a fun book and it taught little kids about families. I would recommend this book to anyone with a young child for a good bedtime story or a good book to enhance young children's reading skills. The book is funny and entertaining and a very well written book and I recommend reading all the Little Critter books, along with This is my Family.

No matter what form their family may take, children are sure to find something to relate to in Little Critter`s introduction of his family. While Dad and Mom are very like their own, my boys take pleasure in seeing themselves in Little Critter, his sister, and baby brother (over and over again.) Most important, however, is the message that comes through: We may fight, but we also have fun together. Every member is special. And, no matter what our differences may be, we all love each other. Whatever the structure may be, LOVE is what a family is all about.

My two year old son and I read this story VERY often! He loves this and all of the Little Critter books that we have. I appreciate the "traditional" family being recognized. As a stay-at-home-mom, I enjoy the fact that this book doesn't have Little Critter's mom working outside the home. I know that in today's society there are many different types of families, but this book fits our family very well. My son and I highly recommend this book!