Who We Are

In this companion to best-selling titles “A Family Is a Family Is a Family” and “A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid”, a child explores how to make a friend. When a child arrives at summer camp, they see a lot of other kids. Will any of them want to be their friend? One by one, the kids share their thoughts on friendship. One child makes friends by asking questions, while another says you can be friends even if you don't speak the same language! Listening to each other's stories, liking the same things and showing kindness are among the many ways of being a friend. And friends can come from unexpected places, too, your grandpa might even be your very best friend! Author Sara O'Leary and illustrator Qin Leng have created a delightful, heartfelt, inclusive book about making and being a friend.

In this companion to the enormously popular A Family Is a Family Is a Family, a group of kids share the silly questions they always hear, as well as the questions they would rather be asked about themselves. Being the new kid is hard, a child in the school playground tells us. I can think of better things to ask than if I'm a boy or a girl. Another child comes along and says she gets asked why she always has her nose in a book. Someone else gets asked where they come from. One after another, children share the questions they're tired of being asked again and again, as opposed to what they believe are the most important or interesting things about themselves. As they move around the playground, picking up new friends along the way, there is a feeling of understanding and acceptance among them. And, in the end, the new kid comes up with the question they would definitely all like to hear: "Hey kid, want to play?" Sara O'Leary's thoughtful text and Qin Leng's expressive illustrations tell a story about children who are all different, all themselves, all just kids.

When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways - but the same in the one way that matters most of all. One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One has many stepsiblings, and another has a new baby in the family. As her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them - family of every shape, size and every kind of relation - the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, it is special. A warm and whimsical look at many types of families, written by award-winning author Sara O'Leary, with quirky and sweet illustrations by Qin Leng.