Father’s day is coming up this weekend. While many plan to celebrate with their fathers, father figures, grandfathers, and/or uncles, we also recognize this as an opportunity to shed light on the diversity of each and every family structure.
Below are some books that celebrate different family structures. While reading with your child, you can target family/relationship vocabulary by having them identify who is in their own family and who is in the characters’ families. For younger children, you can target receptive vocabulary by having them point to animals, places, vehicles, colors, characters, etc. as you name them. After you finish a page, or before you start reading the next page, leave a pause to allow your child to comment on what they see or what they heard. Stories also lend themselves to emotion vocabulary, conflict resolution, and theory of mind skills. Books can be used to support language development in so many ways! Pick one, a few, or all of them and get reading! Be sure to let us know your favorites!
Check out your local library to see if they have any of these books available:
· Who's In My Family?: All About Our Families by Robie H. Harris
· Sometimes It's Grandmas and Grandpas: Not Mommies and Daddies by Gayle Byrne
· My Friends and Me: A Celebration of Different Kinds of Families by Stephanie Stansbie
· Fred Stays With Me! By Nancy Coffelt
· A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary
· Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer
· In Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco
· Two Is Enough by Janna Matthies
· In Every House on Every Street by Jess Hitchman
· We Are Family by Patricia Hegarty