#blogbookaday: Still A Family
Summary: “A little girl and her parents have lost their home and must live in a homeless shelter. Even worse, due to a common shelter policy, her dad must live in a men’s shelter, separated from her and her mom. Despite these circumstances, the family still finds time to be together. They meet at the park to play hide-and-seek, slide on slides, and pet puppies. While the young girl wishes for better days when her family is together again under a roof of their very own, she continues to remind herself that they’re still a family even in times of separation.” (Taken from Goodreads)
Review: This is a story of a little girl’s family who is homeless and how they navigate the difficult world of separate shelters, looking for jobs, and keeping hope. She continues to go back to “still a family” even if their situation is not a typical one, she misses her dad tucking her in, the security of her own home and dinner every night. With colored pencil drawings, this story really, truly feels from a child’s perspective which I think makes it a more powerful story for kids to read.
Personal Reaction: I picked up this book expecting it to be a story about divorce and was pleasantly surprised and heartbroken that it’s the story of homelessness. It’s so interesting because this has been a topic that has come up in my community in the past few months as community organizations grapple with what can be done to help and support homeless families living here. I think this book is useful to have on hand to explain homelessness to children and also as a book for kids to be able to see themselves in literature, if they are experiencing homelessness.
Title: Still a Family
Author: Brenda Reeves Sturgis
Illustrator: Jo-Shin Lee
Publisher: Albert Whitman Company
Publication Date: January 31,2017
This is a new idea I’m trying on my blog this year that was inspired by @donalynbooks and @heisereads – to provide a brief review of a picture book every day of 2018. You’ll get a brief summary of the story, a review of the content, illustrations and theme, my personal reaction to the book and all the pertinent publication information! Enjoy!
