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A review by celia_thebookishhufflepuff
Families by Susan Kuklin
5.0
Through fifteen interviews with children 4-14 through their authentic voices, [a:Susan Kuklin|190477|Susan Kuklin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1220053754p2/190477.jpg] illustrates the diversity of family life and culture in the US. Kuklin describes this book in her introduction as completely child-directed, including the poses and outfits in the photos. This book includes families with many different cultural and religious backgrounds, and quite a few nontraditional family structures. Some interviews feature a single only child, while many feature all siblings in a family.
It is important for students to have the experience with text in authentic children’s voices because it shows that their voices are valid and that children can contribute to society in significant ways. Seeing children’s voices in writing also encourages more authenticity in students’ own writing. It can be reassuring to see other people write the way you talk and think, and while many adult writers can do this in fiction for children, it is even more significant in this format because they can tell it comes directly from kids just like them.
While I doubt young early readers could read this on their own, it would do well as a read-aloud, especially if there were a writing project involved where kids explored the interview process themselves and talked about their own families. Although this book seems to be out of print, I'm really hoping I can get my hands on a used copy somewhere.
See my full review on my Goodreads account for children's books
It is important for students to have the experience with text in authentic children’s voices because it shows that their voices are valid and that children can contribute to society in significant ways. Seeing children’s voices in writing also encourages more authenticity in students’ own writing. It can be reassuring to see other people write the way you talk and think, and while many adult writers can do this in fiction for children, it is even more significant in this format because they can tell it comes directly from kids just like them.
While I doubt young early readers could read this on their own, it would do well as a read-aloud, especially if there were a writing project involved where kids explored the interview process themselves and talked about their own families. Although this book seems to be out of print, I'm really hoping I can get my hands on a used copy somewhere.
See my full review on my Goodreads account for children's books