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STILL A FAMILY

Name: STILL A FAMILY
Author: Brenda Reeves Sturgis
ISBN: 978-0-8075-7707-3

by Brenda Reeves Sturgis ; illustrated by Jo-Shin Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 31, 2017

A sensitive and necessary picture book to provide comfort and raise awareness and empathy.

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A preschool-age girl copes with living in a homeless shelter with her mother and without her father, who is housed in a different shelter.

Sturgis’ first-person text is paired with Lee’s naïve illustration style to deliver an effective and affecting account from the protagonist’s perspective. The father in the family appears to be a white man, while the mother’s darker brown skin indicates that she is a woman of color, and the girl’s skin tone is most like her father’s. The text repeatedly underscore’s the title’s message that they are “still a family” even though they must live separately in different shelters. The story depicts ways they stay connected with visits to the park, meals at a soup kitchen, and shared co-parenting while the adults alternate caring for their young daughter and looking for work. Throughout, the girl's doll provides a sense of comfort and consistency. While there is no happily-ever-after resolution, the ending has a hopeful note as the family marks their daughter’s birthday and the text re-emphasizes the title’s message. An author’s note and resource list in the backmatter round out the book with context for readers.

A sensitive and necessary picture book to provide comfort and raise awareness and empathy. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-8075-7707-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Whitman

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
AFTER THE SHELTER
by Brenda Reeves Sturgis ; illustrated by Amy Everson

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10 TURKEYS IN THE ROAD
by Brenda Reeves Sturgis & illustrated by David Slonim

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BEST BUNNY BROTHER EVER

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 6, 2026

A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.

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Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.

Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.

A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026

ISBN: 9798217032464

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST
by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S NOT EASY BEING SANTA CLAUS
by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis

- BOOK REVIEW
CHARLIE PIECHART AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING PIZZA SLICE
by Eric Comstock & Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Eric Comstock

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)