This time of year, most early childhood classrooms talk about their families a lot. It doesn't matter how much I love Todd Parr's The Family Book, but I want you and me to break from the norm and read and use other family books in our schools. I came up with this huge list of 50 family books for PreK. Here is a list of all the books about families that I've put together. There are five sections: books about parents and children and families with and preparing for new babies, grandparents, siblings, and other types of families. Hope this list of books about your family is useful for your lessons. For more ideas on how to have fun with your family, check out more here and of course, check out my Families Mini-Thematic Unit as well.

Books About Parents & Children

Dad and Pop: An Ode to Fathers and Stepfathers by Kelly Bennett

If you like books about kids with two dads, this one is for you. In this case, one is her real dad. The other is her stepdad. People love her, so she compares and contrasts them. At the end of the day, both of them still love her. There are no custody agreements, how old the girl was when she met her now stepfather, or why her parents split up in this book. That's not what this book is about. A child and the men who love her are shown in this book. To help your child understand families with stepparents, this is a good book to read to him or her.

My Father’s Shop by Satomi Ichikawa

If you want to learn how to sell rugs to tourists, you should go to Morocco with your father and learn a new language. Only Mustafa is on his own trip. His old rug has a hole in it. He goes through the market and attracts the attention of a lot of tourists, too. His dad was going to teach him some new words, but not the ones he had planned on. This is a book your kids will enjoy.

Papa, Daddy, and Riley by Seamus Kirst

important book So, not so much because it has two dads, but because it talks about how mean kids can be when they have a small view of how things work. Riley goes to school and is told by a classmate that only one of her dads can be Riley's REAL dad, but Riley doesn't believe her. Finally, Riely's dad shows her that families aren't just different because they have two dads. They are different in many other ways, too. Because love is what makes a family, no one family is better than the other. Each time Devon Holzwarth draws this multi-race family, it comes to life in a new way.

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck

is more like a monster book for kids that I would like to read to my kids. By Mark Buehner, my little boy was always looking for spiders, bats, and owls. He also liked to count the extra eyes and arms on some monsters. The story is also sweet. There are a lot of things that a mama monster does with her little monster all day long. A good thing about it is that it talks about how love can be both a feeling and a thing.

Mama’s Saris by Pooja Makhijani

The story is about a little girl and her desire to dress like her mother. It is simple but also very interesting. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a woman who didn't want to dress like her mom for a special event. The narrator is Hindu, and her mother always wears a sari on special occasions, like when she goes to church. When she turns 7, she wants to be able to wear one for her birthday. She is being very stubborn about it, though. Pictures of the saris in different jewel tones are lovely. You should read this book before you play dress-up or act out a story. Even though it's too long for toddlers, it's a great book for kids who are in kindergarten or first grade.

I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

a great book for kids who don't like mush. Even though he's dressed as a bad monster, a little boy asks his mom if she'll still love him even if he turns into a bunch of bad monsters. It reminds me of "The Runaway Bunny," but it's not as sweet and creepy as that one. So sorry if I've just called your favorite book creepy. I've never been a fan of "The Runaway Bunny," though. It's time to talk about this book and why I like it. I love that the little boy in the book keeps trying to make himself unlovable and the mom keeps finding ways to love unconditionally. Moms will see past the fun illustrations to the real heart of this book, which is that we love our kids no matter what. You can't see your son in his stroller and throw puffs on the floor and not cry when you read this in a thrift store.

Lola Loves Stories by Anna McQuinn

my daughter loves this book more than any other book in the world. She named her first doll after the main character because she loves her so much. In this book, Lola and her dad go to the library on Saturday. All week, they read and act out the stories they found. When the author has Lola go with her dad on their own, I think it's great. You don't often see this in books. It's either Mom alone or the whole family. Because books are seen as a starting point for making up stories, I also like that.

Heather Has Two Mommiesby Leslea Newman

A lot of people didn't like the book when it came out at first, and many people still don't like it now. As a picture book about a family with same-sex parents, this one is probably the most well-known. It is also one of the first. First, you might think it doesn't live up to the ban. A family with a doctor, a carpenter, and their daughter is the subject of this book. I always think of banned books as being very offensive or graphic. A lot of her classmates are starting a new school, which makes Heather feel anxious. She's also curious about what a family looks like, just like her friends. In her heart, she knows that her family is different, but not less than. The new edition has a lot more colorful illustrations than the black and white ones in the previous editions. This is a big improvement.

Hikeby Pete Oswald 

Everything that a book should be. Hikeby Pete Oswald is the best book I have read. Tells a story with the right number of words. They don't need to say a lot because as the father and child hike, you get the impression that they're listening to each other and not talking too much. Readers get to go with the two as they wake up, get ready for their hike, drive, hike, plant trees, rock climb, and enjoy the great outdoors before coming back to their home. They also get to enjoy the great outdoors. As someone who owns a lot of books, this one is very important to me. It not only celebrates the outdoors, but it also celebrates dads. A job well done! I can't think of anything I don't like about this book.

My Maddyby Gayle E. Pittman

My Maddyby likes to go to the movies with me. Author Gayle E. Pittman has written another great book. As it says in the author's note, this book talks about a child and their non-binary parent Maddy. It also talks about how the parent is intersex. A magical thing about the story is that it shows how things aren't always one way or the other in everyday child/parent interactions and life. To show that life isn't as simple as we think, and neither are people. To learn more about what non-binary means for people and life in general, this is a great book.

Stella Brings The Familyby Miriam B. Schiffer 

Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer is a fun book that my daughter wanted to read again right after we finished it. It's in the book that we meet Stella, who has two dads and no mom to bring to the party at school on May Day. She thinks about it, and then she decides to invite all the people who play that role into her life. There are always problems for families that don't follow the rigid rules we often set for ourselves. This book doesn't forget about that, which is what I love about it! This book does a great job of talking about it, recognizing Stella's feelings, and coming up with a way to solve it.

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