This book was just okay to me, simple language and pictures. I liked the idea of including found family in the family tree. However, I wish the adoptive part was more explicit. While the author was trying to be clever, all the names and people got confusing without the visual aid to keep track of all the names. I think this could have been done more effectively had the reader seen the larger map of the family tree as it was coming together. The last picture of the map was very small and hard to read.

A sweet book for the classroom. I really love the exploration of diverse family trees and how to incorporate different people in your life. This is a great book to use with students of all ages especially when exploring topics of identity and family. These are such complex issues and this book provides a strategic approach for learning.

One of the cutest books I've read and very relevant to modern genealogy research. I couldn't have explained making a family tree better if I tried.

A really interesting ARC of an upcoming book with #muslimsintheillustration although the Muslims are not actually the main characters.

Islamic Screening: there is mention of IVF to a mother who is by herself with mention of “bird and bees” being “doctor degrees”. Mention of a surrogate, an egg donor for a boy . Mentions of divorce and living between two households, and a birth mother that left (may be a trigger) .

Ada is given an assignment in her school to draw her family tree. However, Ada is adopted. Her parents take her on a journey to different households in their community and in her life for her to see the different types of families there are and normalize being different. At each household, Ada’s friends/family would add a picture or item to her family tree until at the end the family tree became a whole new world.

The hijabis are a Black Muslim woman and her mother who are the foster parents of little Ada before her adoption. I liked this positive Muslim rep in a side character.

I was really impressed with the way this book was written. It definitely is impactful and emotional and draws the reader into the dilemma of the little girl. However, I am a little concerned that the content might be above the emotional maturity of the age group intended, with mentions of egg donors, IVF, and surrogates. I do also feel like the story got away from the objective of providing a big family for the little girl to be proud of when she started adding people she had just met.

As a whole, I do recognize that this book provides an alternative for those that have different family living situations and might feel outcasted or uncomfortable because of that in school settings- like Ada did.

I was grateful to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately, several of the pages are almost impossible to read in the digital format in which the book appears on my phone (which is the only place I can read Netgalley books that don't go to Kindle, as the Netgalley shelf app can't be downloaded onto my laptop or outdated iPad).

Despite this, I was able to read the story and appreciate its charms. I loved that it starts mid-action (the first line of the book is, "The handout was a drawing of a tree," and is accompanied by an illustration showing Ada sitting on a bed with her parents, all three of them staring in dismay at the handout). And I love that Ada's friends and family members are invited to draw directly on her family-tree handout, adding climbing roses, islands, rivers, and other symbols the various children use to describe their complicated family circumstances: conception by IVF or by surrogate, adoption, foster care, sibling through birth mothers but different adoptive parents, gay moms, gay dads, a mother-daughter foster care family, divorced parents who live in different homes where one has a sibling and the other doesn't, and so on. One of the main lessons of the book is definitely that traditional family trees are unlikely to work for many of today's modern families.

When Ada visits her little sister, who has been adopted by different parents, she says, "Mia's got to be in there because she's my sister. And you two have to be in there because you're Mia's parents. But there's nowhere to put you in the tree." Ada winds up making a coastline with one parent's Mexican folks in one area and the other parent's German parents in another, while the two moms are depicted as butterflies going back and forth between them. She includes foster kids now living with her former foster mothers and foster kids who used to live with her. When she has to add herself and her adopted parents, Ada puts them all as stars in the sky overlooking all the other parts, and her birth mother as the moon. This part of the story also quietly addresses the question adopted children have about why their birth parent gave them up.

In the end, we are shown Ada's tree, and how it has become a whole world. One hopes all teachers would lovingly accept all the variations that Ada has included. This is a beautiful book about the myriad ways people create their families.

I can't lie--I was wiping away a few tears at the end of this. But they were happy tears! This is a lovely, gentle, sensitive, and affirming exploration of all the different ways families are made. The story is heavy with metaphors, so I would recommend kids be at least elementary age and would definitely encourage an adult reading partner.

It's matter of fact and doesn't flinch away from uncomfortable or even possibly painful topics, but instead handles them with grace, love, and respect for the reader. This would be a wonderful resource for school psychologists and social workers, but also just a great book to read in class to spark discussion on what it means to be a family.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

"Ada thought about all the people who made her feel like family."

When her homework assignment involves making a family tree, Ada is unsure of how to proceed. Where does an adopted child fit on a traditional tree? Luckily, Ada's surrounded by a terrific "root system" of wonderful, loving people who help her examine what it means to be a family.

This touching book is simply a pleasure to read and reread.

I’m confused about the book’s intended audience and I’m afraid the intended message and its lovely metaphor are lost in the presentation. The illustrations (which are fantastic) seem to be aimed toward a picture book audience, while the writing seems directed toward a much older audience.

A beautiful story about what is a family and how connections go far and beyond if you really think about it. It discusses different families and how no matter how different you may appear to others the importance is how loved, respected, and accepted you are by them.

In Lianne Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies”, there is a scene where a little boy is asked to make a family tree for his first grade school assignment. However, he struggles with it as he doesn’t know who his dad is. That was the first time I wondered how schools can insist on traditional family trees in a world where the very meaning of “family” has undergone such a drastic change from its old-fashioned definition of Dad+Mom+kids.

When I saw this picture book and saw that it tackled a similar idea, I knew I had to read it. And to a great extent, it does justice to its intent.

The concept begins the same way. Ada has been given a paper with a tree drawn on it and she is supposed to draw her family at the appropriate places. However, Ada’s family history isn’t just a simple tree. Through her talks with her parents and their extended family and friends, Ada finds families created through IVF, adoption, surrogacy and even fostering. There are also same-sex parents and divorced parents. How she weaves them all in her tree is what you need to discover through the book.

The topic is difficult, and hence some parts of the book will need more discussion or explanation. I loved it for the idea it tries to put forward – we need to look beyond traditional family units. But there are certain ideas in it that might be either complicated or painful for kids to accept, such as a birth mother who gave her children for adoption.

The illustrations are very good and reminded me of my childhood Russian story books. More importantly, they are inclusive.

The book will work very well as a school resource. Before teachers give out family tree projects, they can use this lovely story to help children understand how every kind of family is still a complete family. It would also work well for children in any non-traditional family setup. Or maybe even for children in traditional family setups. After all, they too need to learn that theirs is not the only kind of family possible. This might help foster better understanding with their friends.

4 stars.

My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books, and NetGalley for the ARC of “The Family Tree”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This book really cements the idea that a family is who you choose to make it with while addressing many different things that can mix up a 'traditional' family.

This is a really lovely story about a child facing the difficulty of recording her more complex family on a traditional family tree. I loved how matter-of-factly the different areas of Ada's family were spoken about and added onto her tree. As this can be an area of difficulty for children living in non-traditional families, I think this would be an excellent book to have in schools, to ensure that all children are reassured of the value of their families, whatever they look like.

The Family Tree by Sean Dixon is a very relatable story for kids. It discusses topics such as adoption, foster homes, IVF, surrogates, and even the concept of found families. It is told in a way that children are able to understand, without taking away the importance or meaning. This is such a relevant book for all students to read to help understand that not all families look the same, but that doesn’t make them less of one. This would be a great addition to any school or public library.

The Family Tree is a wholesome story about Ada - a little girl who needs to create a family tree, but has an untraditional family structure. I think this is such an important story for kids to hear. The nuclear family is shown so much in media, but it really isn’t inclusive or representative of most.

I love that this story shows kids lots of different ways that families can be formed (IVF, surrogacy, adoption, fostering) alongside beautiful metaphors including rivers and roses and stars and the moon. Kids are smart and can understand and appreciate these concepts, so it’s important to provide the materials.

I LOVE the illustrations, they were a highlight of the story.

I do think the ending felt a bit incomplete? It would’ve been nice to have a summary at the end of all the different parts of Ada’s family tree rather than just the picture.

Overall this is a beautiful book with some great messages and I can’t wait to use this in my School Counseling classroom with my elementary students!

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute story about family. I thought it would be about educating kids about family tree but as it turns out I am quite wrong!

The concept of this storybook is quite unique and beautiful. You have to read it yourself and to the kids. You will be amazed.

I love the illustrations so much!

Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada, for the advance reading copy.

This is a beautiful book that discuses the vast diversity of families and how they come to be. The illustrations are lovely. My children and I adored this book and will return to it again and again. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Wow, this is such a wonderful book about the many different types of family units beyond the traditional structure. It addresses adoption, fostering, IVF, surrogates and more. I love the inclusion and diversity in both the story and illustrations. Definitely an important read that we can do with more of.

It is the story of a child who was adopted through foster care, who doesn’t know how to fill in the tree that her teacher wants her to do for homework.
Because she was adopted. And because she was in foster care with parents she is still in touch with, and because she has a sister who lives elsewhere, and because all the other things that do not make for a “traditional” family, she realizes that she can not do a traditional family tree, and so doesn’t. She creates a whole landscape, as she puts people who took care of her, and became her parents, and became her family are included into the drawing.

Wonderful book, because it tries to cover all the other ways we can have a family, and be a family. There is a child conceived through IVF, and children with divorced parents, and foster parents, and the children that she met in foster care that became family.

Hopefully this will open up teachers’ eyes, as well as those of kids, that family can be anything. And because representation matters, there are kids that will find themselves in this book.

Highly recommended.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

The Family Tree
by Sean Dixon

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic book! I volunteer as a court appointed special advocate to speak for the needs and best interest of children in foster care. Sometimes the best thing is to go home with a parent or family member once they get the help they need to be the best parent they can be. Other times the best thing is to be adopted by a new family. The one thing that is always true is that they have a complex familial history whether we’re talking about blood family, foster, adoptive, etc.

This will be an amazing and important resource to help kids understand that their situation while different from many of their classmates is not completely unheard of. Many children come from unique family situations and that is ok. Love and caring is what makes a family and that is the most important part of the story no matter how many people help you grow up.

This will be an excellent book to have in libraries, foster homes, foster support organizations, child welfare offices and any non nuclear family and even in nuclear families so those children can better understand their peers.

5/5

This book tackles so many important topics for young readers. The assignment to "draw a family tree" is one I am sure many kids can relate to. Also relatable? The amount of kids who learn from this assignment that their family is considered "different." Without being too heavy, this children's book shows a wide array of families as our protagonist finds a creative way to make her family tree. Absolutely recommend for families, schools, and libraries everywhere.