Family

Me and My Family Tree
$6.99
This book is the perfect addition to a classroom library for a unit on family. As a Kindergarten teacher, I had trouble getting the children excited about working on a family tree with their parents. This was not true after I introduced this book. I had previously used "Me and My Place in Space" and the children seem to identify with the somewhat androgenous child in both books.

Family - The Complete First and Second Seasons
$49.95
I was only 6 years old when "Family" debuted; my mom adored it. To my older siblings, it was one of the most boring things on television, and they protested loudly if my mom tried to watch it. So my mom only watched "Family" when just she and I were home. I remember that every episode seemed to be about weighty adult issues and was so talky. UGH! I just wanted to watch cartoons.

As an adult, I often enjoy weighty dramas, so I decided to try the first two seasons of "Family" on DVD. Not surprisingly I had a very different reaction this time. "Family" focuses on the Lawrence family of Pasadena, California. Doug (James Broderick) is a successful attorney married for 25 years to Kate (Tony winner Sada Thompson). The oldest child, Nancy (Meredith Baxter Birney) is a young newlywed with an infant (Timmy). Willie (Gary Frank) has dropped out of high school and does little but hang around the house. Finally, Buddy (Kristy McNichol) is a young teen tomboy struggling to find who she is. The family lives in a terrific older house with rambling stairs that was passed down from Doug's father.

The Lawrences are an idealized family of sorts, but they also have problems. During the first season, Nancy catches her husband cheating, and they soon divorce. Likewise, the family frequently argues and has communication break downs. However, in the end, they stick together and support each other. I love the warmth between the family members; it sometimes threatens to become sticky sweet but remains realistic. They're the kind of family many people wish they could have. In particular, Sada Thompson is superb as the mother. She is the perfect parent - warm and encouraging yet tough when she needs to be.

Like many 70s dramas, "Family" tends to be limited by its episodic nature. Most episodes present a new problem that is more or less tidily wrapped up by the time the end credits run. Too often, the storylines depend on a relative or an old friend from out of town reappearing and involving the family in some kind of drama. So one week Willie's old friend who is wanted by the FBI drops into town and nearly gets Willie arrested, and the next week an old flame woos Nancy until she finds out he has a drug problem. It just doesn't seem that realistic that an average family has this many old friends and relatives with problems who just happen to show up each week. Today's television dramas do a much better job of creating storyline arcs that last several episodes and therefore seem more realistic. However, this is a relatively minor quibble about what is otherwise an excellent drama. I think "Family" will appeal to fans of other 70s family dramas, such as "Eight is Enough."

The first season of "Family" was presented as a miniseries; this set contains Seasons 1 and 2 - a total of 28 episodes. The DVD set includes no extras. So far seasons 3-5 have yet to appear three years after the release of this set; hopefully they will eventually be released on DVD.

Who's in a Family?
$7.99
This book will not be for everyone. It introduces all kinds of families, human and animal, including those with same gender parents. It's a gentle way to open up a conversation about diversity with children.

All Kinds of Families
$16.99
Thinking back to my childhood, this was probably cutting-edge in 1976. Kudos to the author and illustrator for that, but it isn't what I would read to my daughter now, since her family headed by two moms is glaringly absent.