Staying at Sam's

The children got a great deal out of this book - it clearly aims high in trying to show children that different styles of family life exist and that one is not necessarily better than another - just different. It's beautifully illustrated with interesting layout of text and pictures supporting the images of Sam's delightfully demonstrative and scatty family. A slight caveat is that the balance is not really fair . . . Sam's friend's family are not given as much time to show us the charm of their quieter and more ordered family life. The predominant colours for the illustrations of this style of family life reflect the cooler tones and so the disadvantage is reinforced still further and this was picked up by the children. Definitely worth having in an Infant classroom because very few books carry this specific message as overtly. It certainly acts as a stimulus to discussion about differences in families, but it does need sensitive handling by an adult.