Kayli+Daniels

Bibliography: Family Structures Kayli Daniels


 * Children’s Fiction: **

Brown, Laurene Krasny and Marc Brown. (1986) **Dinosaurs Divorce: A Guide for Changing Families.** Little, Brown and Company. 32 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

This story is a guide for young children whose parents may be going through a divorce. This is a challenging time for everyone in the family and this book may make it a little bit easier to get through. It explains that children may have many different emotions, and it is okay to feel that way. //Dinosaurs Divorce// will help children understand what divorce words mean, why parents get divorced, living with one parent, having two homes, and living with stepparents and step-brothers, or –sisters. The illustrations are of dinosaurs and this makes the situation lighter. I chose this story because there may be some students in class who have divorced parents or may have parents who are going through the process of getting a divorce. This book will allow children to know that they are not alone during this process. //Dinosaurs Divorce// has a section where it describes all of the feelings a child may feel during this situation. This would pair nicely with lessons that focus on the child recognizing and expressing feelings of themselves and others. Especially if there is a child in the class that is going through this situation, it would be appropriate to teach students empathy for others. For example, if a child sees their friend crying, they could give them a hug or ask, “Are you okay? This would fall under the Social Emotional Standard of the Arizona Early Learning Standards

Curtis, Jamie Lee. (1996) **Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born.** HarperCollins. 40 pages. Changing Hands Bookstore.

This story is about adoption and the importance of a loving family. It is about a little girl asking her parents to tell her again about the night of her birth. The young girl shows that it is a cherished tale, because she knows it by heart. It explains the importance of the phone call that brings the child and the parents together. Curtis includes many details about the adoption story, but it is simple enough for young students to understand. The beautiful illustrations accompany the words very well, and they are sure to draw children in. There is repetition of words, which is significant for young readers. I chose this book because it does a nice job of explaining families who decide to adopt their children. I feel that it is important for students to learn about different kinds of families besides their own. A Social Emotional Standard that would work nicely with this book would be that children display the ability to hold attention when engaged in reading the story. For example, on each page the sentence starts with, “Tell me again…” When the teacher turns the page, each student can read with the teacher, “Tell me again…” This would allow the teacher to know that they are engaged in reading //Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born.//

Levine, Abby. (2004) **Daddies Give You Horsey Rides.** Albert Whitman & Company. 29 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

The fiction story of //Daddies Give You Horsey Rides// is a rhyming text and it shows a variety of things that fathers can do for a family. The author explains how dads can teach you how to ride a bike, push you on the swing, and even read your favorite books over and over. This story put an emphasis on fathers comforting their children when they are frightened. The dads in this story are caring, warm, and all of the best things that a dad can be. Each illustration in this story has a father figure and his children shown through a range of animals including pigs, bears, rabbits, and foxes. This piece of fiction literature is great for the discussion of family structures and what dads can do for their families. Preschool children would be able to answer what kinds of things their Dad does for them. There were rhyming words throughout the story and this would be a great time to focus on what rhyming means or if they could come up with rhyming words. The lessons above would be included in the Language and Literacy Standard. There was also a page in the story that explains how fathers that help you button, tie, and zip. This would be a great opportunity to incorporate a lesson with the main focus of using fine motor skills in daily living.

Lewis, Kim. (2009) **Seymour and Henry.** Candlewick Press. 22 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

// Seymour and Henry // is a fiction story of little duckling brothers who love to play together. They run farther and farther away from home and soon they are not able to see their mother. They have to go on an adventure to find their mom through the rain and other obstacles. The ducklings finally make it home safely and this story does a nice job of explaining how their mother comforts them. This story has a wonderful way of explaining how brothers can go on fun adventures together and how to problem solve, as well. I chose this book not only because it includes family structure, but also because many gross motor skills are included in this fiction story. In preschool it is important to work on physical and motor development. The ducklings hop on a log, go around a rock, and hide under a bucket. It would be beneficial to set up an obstacle course for preschool children to incorporate moving with balance, control, coordination, as well as demonstrating spatial awareness in physical activity. In this story it rained, which complicated things for Seymour and Henry. This concept could be used to identify cause and effect relationships, which falls under the science standards for the Arizona Early Learning Standards. For example, when it rained, the ducklings got all wet. Rain can be an interesting topic for young children and there are multiple lessons and activities that can go along with this story.

Porte, Barbara Ann. (1991) **Harry Gets an Uncle.** Harper Collins Publishers. 47 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

This is an I can read book that focuses mainly on Harry, a little boy, being worried about being the ring boy at his aunt’s wedding. This story expands concepts of extended family. For example, it talks about aunts, uncles, and grandparents. At one point in the book someone says, “There were a zillion relatives.” This shows children that families can be very large and each member can play a significant role in their lives. I chose this book because it is a higher reading level than most of the books I have chosen. I have some higher readers in my class and I think it is important to have some books that are longer for them. I think this book can be used to address Social Emotional Standards. This is because Harry is very worried about multiple things throughout this story. Students can learn self-regulation from Harry. For example, students can learn how to express feelings, thoughts, impulses and behaviors. As a class, we can talk about different situations and how we are supposed to act during them. It may be beneficial for students to create their own social stories in order to understand how to act during different situations.

Reagan, Jean. (2014) **How to Babysit a Grandma.** Alfred A. Knopf. 23 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

//How to Babysit a Grandma// is a fiction story written from the point of view of a little girl. She provides instruction for properly babysitting one’s grandmother, such as taking trips to the park, singing duets, and putting sprinkles on everything. This book is a celebration of grandmas and grandchildren. The role reversal will keep young children engaged in the reading and children will recognize some of the sayings they have heard from their own grandparents. I chose this book because of all of the fun activities that the little girl did with her grandma. The little girl and her grandmother craft at one point in the story, it would be a wonderful time to incorporate crafts into the classroom. This would be included in the Fine Arts Standard. Students would be able to use a wide variety of materials, media, tools, techniques and processes to explore, create and understand art. In order to relate it back to the book, students could create this ‘master piece’ for their grandma, grandpa, or someone special in their family. The little girl and her grandmother also sing and dance. This could be incorporated into the classroom to understand music, movement and dance. Young children love to sing and dance, it really gets them involved in whatever it is you are learning about.

Ziefert, Harriet. (2000) **Grandpas Are for Finding Worms.** Puffin Books. 16 pages. Changing Hands Bookstore.

This story talks about all of the fun things that you can do with your grandpa. The activities mentioned are building bookshelves, watching you do tricks, playing ball, and fishing. Most importantly the message that the book portrays is that grandpas always make you feel special. This story really explains what a grandpa is from the eyes of a child. It is a lift-the-flap book, which children really seem to enjoy. This is because they are able to interact with the book more than just turning the page. I chose this book not only because it talks about a grandpa’s role in the family, but also because it is a lift-the-flap book. Language and Literacy Standards can be incorporated by making sure students hold the book right side up with the front cover facing the reader and understanding left to right and top to bottom directionality. With prompting and support, students can ask and answer a variety of questions about what might be under the flap. Also, using the pincer grasp to turn the page, as well as lifting the flaps on each page will incorporate Motor Development Standards.


 * Children’s Non Fiction: **

Konrad, Marla Stewart. (2009) **Mom and Me.** Tundra Books. 21 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

The book //Mom and Me// uses real photographs that show different cultures around the world. It shows how mothers nourish, assist, instruct, and comfort their children. This book allows children to see how the same activities can be done differently, based on where you live in the world. For example, the way mothers transport their children in different cultures may look different than being pushed in a stroller.

This book is wonderful not only because it talks about a mother’s role in a family, but it also talks about many different cultures. This book takes it a step farther and can be used for recognizing that places where people live are made up of individuals from different cultures and speak different languages, which is a Social Studies Standard. Another part of this standard is that children will identify, discuss, and ask questions about similarities and differences in other people in their community. This book is extremely relevant to my classroom, because I have students from a variety of cultures. This story will allow students to understand that everyone has differences and similarities and that it is okay to be different from someone else. This story will also encourage creativity and engaging in inventive social play, which is an Approaches to Learning Standard. For example, while in the play center, a child may say, “Let’s feed our babies, they are hungry.”

Parr, Todd. (2003) **The Family Book.** Megan Tingley Books. 29 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

// The Family Book // is a wonderful book that explains all of the different varieties that families come in. It represents big and small families, some with only one parent, and some with two moms or two dads. Families who adopt and families who have stepmothers or –fathers, and step-siblings are mentioned as well. Qualities of families are explained by mentioning quiet and noisy families, and clean and messy families. At the end of the story it explains that there are multiple ways to be a family, but your family is special and unique no matter what kind it is.

This is the ultimate family book and there are so many activities that can be done from this story. One thing I would focus on would be emergent writing. A Language and Literacy Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standard is ‘with modeling and support, students would use a combination of drawing, dictating and emergent writing to communicate information about their family.’ Young children love to share information about themselves and their families. This book would be the perfect prompt in order to get them to share either verbally or on paper. Counting and cardinality could also being incorporated with this story. This activity would be to count how many family members or family pets each student had. They could bring in a picture of their family, or use the drawings they made to count family members. This is a Mathematics Standard from the Arizona Learning Standards.

Schaefer, Lola M. (2008) **Sisters.** Capstone Press. 23 pages. Scottsdale Public Library.

// Sisters // is a short book that explains how children can interact with their families. This book has a nice definition of the word sisters. The definition used is “Sisters are girls who have the same parents as other children.” This book uses real photographs to capture moments of sisters and brothers having fun and working together. The images support early readers in understand the text that is presented. Some activities mentioned are how sisters can fly kites, dress up, build forts, and do the dishes.

I chose this book because it explains sisters as a part of the family structure in a child friendly way. While reading this book students may be able to demonstrate knowledge of self-identity. For example, after reading the story, a student might state, “I am the big sister in my family.” This book would be a great prompt to get students to draw their siblings and the kinds of activities they do together. This activity relates to Language and Literacy Standard of the Arizona Early Learning Standards.