With everything that’s going on at the moment, its probably safe to say that for many family is the most important thing at the moment. But what makes a family? Families come in all shapes and sizes and it’s important for children to be able to relate to the relationships they see and read about in books. So we are sharing our favourite Childrens books about all types of families.

• • Two Is Enough by Janna Matthies- I love this book and its perfect title. A brilliant book for young children who live in a single parent family. Positive, sweet and beautiful illustrated.
    

• • Up and Down Mum This brilliant book is about a single mum who has bipolar disorder. It aims to help children understand bipolar disorder in a child friendly way.

• • Where Did You Go Today? A sweet story about a girl and her dad playing at the park, showing imaginative play at its finest. It subtly implies that the child’s parents are separated.

• The Garden of Hope– this beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a girl who turns an over grown area into a beautiful garden.

• Hattie Peck– Such a wonderful story about a chicken who desperately wants to lay an egg that hatches into a baby chick- but can’t. So makes it her mission to save as many unwanted or abandoned eggs as she can and raise them herself! Fabulous moral about what it means to be a family and a lovely way of helping children understand what adoption means.

• Hot Air balloon Adventure Stories–  This series of wonderfully exciting stories by  Annahita De La Mare is all about three cousins from a mixed heritage family who go on adventures together in a hot air balloon. I particularly loved how it celebrates the relationship between cousins.

• • In Every House, on Every Street we adore this book! It’s gorgeous and shows an array of different families in their homes. Helping children to find one that they can relate to.

• • A Bear Hug at Bedtime A wonderful celebration of diverse and extended families. This book is a fun story with gorgeous illustrations.

• We Are Family A lovely rhyming book that illustrates the lives of 8 different families. Showing the ways in which families can be the same and yet different to one another.

• The Great Big Book of Families Arguably the holy grail of family books for young children, this book is packed full of different types of families and information about family life. Fantastic.

• Spacegirl Pukes A funny yet relatable book about a young girl with two mums who’s sickness bug makes its way through the family!

• Jo-Jo and Gran-Gran, All in a Week– I love how this book captures the anticipation and excitement of a child waiting to see their grandparent at the weekend. A heart warming and special book that celebrates the truly special relationship between a grandparent and grandchild. And if you love this book, you’ll be excited to hear that it has now been made into a children’s tv series on CBeebies! Find it here. My kids love it!

Extra Resources

We’d highly recommend to any families who are going through divorce, this gem of a book by Sue Atkins The Divorce Journal for Kids. Have a read of our review in full here.