35 Best Picture Books About Families
Who is in your family? This is a common question explored in the classrooms and homes of preschool and kindergarten children the world over. Fortunately, there are books about families representing a diverse range of families available today (and it grows every day) and this list includes 35 of the best families books to enjoy with children.
This is a very big and diverse list. It includes picture books about families that are suited to reading with toddlers through preschool and kindergarten and all the way through elementary/primary school. It includes books about different families, including multicultural families, books exploring different family structures, blended families, solo parent families, books about adoption for families, and more.
I hope that by offering such a diverse collection of families books I can help parents and teachers find books that offer more children an opportunity to find themselves and their family reflected between the covers of a book.
For those searching for diverse picture books, I suggest also checking out the companion booklist to this one – our best picture books about difference and diversity collection.
35 Best Books About Families
As with all of the lists in our Best Books for Kids collection, each title in this list links to an Amazon (these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you) where you can find more information and reviews for titles you might not be personally familiar with.
RELATED: 101 Books To Help Build Friendship, Communication and Social Skills
The Family Book by Todd Parr
In one of our favorite toddler family books, Parr uses hias signature unique and colorful style to celebrate the different family structures and the love we all feel for our families.
Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang
Dozens of combinations, demonstrating all kinds of nontraditional families, are depicted by fabulous animals in framed portraits in this warm celebration of family love, a perfect books about families for preschoolers.
An ABC of Families by Abbey Williams
Whether you have two dads, an adopted brother, three stepsisters or divorced parents, every family is the perfect family! With A being for Adoption, B for Blended Families and C for Co-parenting, this important book helps the children explore complicated concepts in an accessible way.
What Makes a Family? by Hannah Bruner
A gorgeous book sharing the key message that families can all look very different on the outside but what makes them truly a family is the love that they share for each other.
Who’s In My Family? All About Our Families by Robie H. Harris
Join Nellie and Gus and their family for a day at the zoo in this funny, engaging story that makes it clear that whoever is in your family, it is perfectly normal — and totally wonderful.
Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney
In Me and My Family Tree a young girl, through simple text and diagrams, how the members of her family are related to each other and to her.
Families by Shelley Rotner
Celebrate diversity with this great picture book for young children about the many faces (and structures) of contemporary families.
Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
Love is baking a special cake, lending a helping hand, reading one more book! A sweet book showing different families busy together in happy activities. Whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each, this simple story demonstrates what’s most important in each
family’s life – the love the family members share.
A Family Is A Family Is A Family by Sara O’Leary
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 ultimately realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, her family is special..
Remixed: A Blended Family by Arree Chung
A clever book about blended families for school age children, exploring the way families change and reassuring them that love can continue to grow even through change.
Two is Enough by Janna Matthies
A sweet representation of the love between the members of a family of two. The illustrations depict different combinations of two person families enjoying activities together, transforming through different seasons to different holidays. Includes great diversity.
In This Family by Shelly Anand
This lyrical story of a biracial family is a beautiful celebration of family, multiculturalism, identity, inclusion, and more.
For more books exploring themes related to diversity and difference, check out our Best Children’s Books About Diversity collection.
Let Me Fix You a Plate by Elizabeth Lilly
A sweet story about a family who sets off once a year to visit their grandparents. First their white grandparents in West Virginia, and then to Florida to visit their Abuela and Abuelo. The story focuses on the different foods they eat at each grandparents’ home, and compared to their own home. Food is such an important cultural element of families and this celebrates its diversity.
Just the Way We Are by Claire Robertson
Shares the wonderful message that children of all ages, backgrounds and family situations are normal. Five different children from diverse social and cultural backgrounds explain why each of their families is special. Includes a child who lives with her parents and grandfather, a child with two dads, a child with separated families and two homes, a foster family and a single parent family.
Family by Aunty Fay Muir
A sweet introduction for younger readers to Indigenous family and philosophy. Combines the importance of caring and sharing for both country and mob to create belonging and connection.
Our Table by Peter H. Reynolds
A wonderful story about a family who has gotten out of the habit of eating dinner at the table, and how one family member makes it her mission to bring them all back together.
The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman
A celebration of all kinds of families and their lives together, each spread showcases the diverse customs and traditions of one aspect of home life-from houses and holidays, to schools and pets, to feelings and family trees, featuring families the world over.
Families Around the World by Margaret Ruurs
Visit with fourteen children, each from a different country, to learn about their families. Based on real children, each one’s story fills a two-page spread and is told in the first person, beginning with a greeting in the child’s native language.
Home by Tonya Lippertz
This thoughtful story follows siblings as they experience homelessness and uncertain housing – moving from their house, to a motel, to a shelter and finally to a more permanent home. A great addition to your collection of books about different families.
Still a Family by Brenda Reeves Sturgis
A gentle, respectful tale of a family facing homelessness and dealing with separation when the father must stay in a different shelter than his wife and child.
Fred Stays With Me by Nancy Coffelt
A beautiful story of the incredible bond between a girl and her dog, Fred, who travels with her between her two homes.
Two Homes by Claire Masurel
At Mommy’s house, Alex has a soft chair. At Daddy’s house, Alex has a rocking chair. In each home, Alex also has a special bedroom and lots of friends to play with. But whether Alex is with his mother or his father, one thing always stays the same – Alex is loved..
For more books to help talk with children about divorce and separation, check out our list of Helpful Picture Books about Divorce.
With My Daddy by Jo Witek
A celebration of the time a child spend with their dad – riding bikes or swimming in the pool, and the ways a dad can help their child to feel daring, playful, adventurous, confident and safe.
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
Heather’s favorite number is two. She has two arms, two legs, and two pets. And she also has two mommies. When Heather goes to school for the first time, someone asks her about her daddy, but Heather doesn’t have a daddy. When Heather and her classmates all draw pictures of their families, not one drawing is the same.
Stella Brings the Family by Miriam Schiffer
Stella’s class is having a Mother’s Day celebration, but what’s a girl with two daddies to do? Stella has her Papa and Daddy who take care of her, and a whole gaggle of other loved ones who make her feel special and supported every day. She just doesn’t have a mom to invite to the party.
In Our Mother’s House by Patricia Polacco
Marmee, Meema, and the kids are just like any other family on the block. They cook dinner together, laugh together and dance together. But some of the other families don’t accept them. How can a family have two moms and no dad? But Marmee and Meema’s house is full of love. And they teach their children that different doesn’t mean wrong.
My Mummy, My Mama, My Brother, and Me by Natalie Mesner
This simple, lyrical story about a biracial family with two mothers (and two brothers) on an outing to the beach is a great book about family for preschool.
Dad and Daddy’s Big Big Family by Seamus Kirst
Harper is going with her dads to her first family reunion. It’s a fabulous, fun occasion and a great exploration of extended family as Harper meets (and learns more about) cousins, step children, great aunts and more.
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
This fun, classic families book shares the story of a family road tripping to visit family for an extended vacation stay, capturing the joys of a big family reunion – hugging, talking, eating all together and the change of sleeping arrangements, through to the emptiness of the house when the relatives finally leave!
A Family Like Ours by Frank Murphy
From big to small, close-knit to spread out, adopted to blended, this celebration of diverse families highlights important messages of family as a place for support, safety and inspiration.
Books About Adoption for Families
We Belong Together by Todd Parr
We Belong Together is about sharing your home and sharing your heart to make a family that belongs together. With an understanding of how personal and unique each adoption is, and that not everyone comes to it in the same way, Parr’s colorful art explores the true meaning of family.
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis
In asking her parents to tell her again about the night of her birth, a girl relives a tale she knows by heart. Focusing on the significance of family and love, this is a beautiful story about adoption and the importance of a loving family.
Yes, I’m Adopted! by Sharlie Zinger
An adoption story shared from start to finish as a journey of love, told from the child’s point of view.
I Wished for You: An Adoption Story by Marianne Richmond
A beautiful conversation between a little bear and his mama as they talk about how God chose them to become a family. The little bear asks many of the questions adopted children have, and his mama lovingly answers them all.
A is for Always: An Adoption Alphabet
With thoughtful alphabet style prose and tender illustrations, A is for Always reflects upon many aspects of the adoption process.
More Social Emotional Learning Books for kids
For more social emotional learning books and resources, check out these related posts;
