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Beer, S. (2018). Love Makes a Family. Dial Books.

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This book is about Marin, a girl who has grown up in foster care going from house to house. When she learns she is to be adopted by her most recent foster family, she decides she must find her birth mother and convince her that they belong together. Marin learns to understand that love comes in many forms, and that just because her foster mother is not her biological mother does not mean that she cannot be a true mother to her.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Pennies-Melanie-Crowder/dp/1481471880/ref=sr_1_1?crid=393LRP6YD51XJ&keywords=three+pennies+melanie&qid=1667317840&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjUzIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=three+pennies+melanie%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-1

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Three Pennies [Crowder, Melanie] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Three Pennies

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Cleary, B. (2000). Dear Mr. Henshaw. Harper Collings.

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Crowder, M. (2018). Three Pennies. Atheneum Children's Books.

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Leigh is a young boy whose parents are divorced. After the divorce, his dad left with the family dog to be a long-haul trucker, and he does not really remember to keep in touch with Leigh. Leigh has a favorite author, Boyd Henshaw. He writes to Mr. Henshaw for several years - from 2nd through 6th grade - asking him questions. During Leigh's 6th grade year, Mr. Henshaw begins writing back to him. Mr. Henshaw coaches Leigh on how to be a good writer, and although his dad never comes back to be present in Leigh's life, Leigh learns that his worth is not based on his dad's opinion of him.

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Mr-Henshaw-Beverly-Cleary/dp/0380709589/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2C9BS417NL9R8&keywords=dear+mr.+henshaw+by+beverly+cleary&qid=1667317952&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjIyIiwicXNhIjoiMC43NyIsInFzcCI6IjAuODkifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=dear+%2Cmr+hens%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-1

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Dear Mr. Henshaw [Cleary, Beverly, Zelinsky, Paul O.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Dear Mr. Henshaw

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This book shows all different types of family structures - two moms, two dads, a mom and a dad, or another caregiver. The moral of the story is that the relation of the family is not the important part, the love is. This book is not a deep dive into these topics, but it has good representation in the pictures for younger readers.

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Makes-Family-Sophie-Beer/dp/052555422X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=love+makes+a+family&qid=1667318075&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjcyIiwicXNhIjoiMS4xNSIsInFzcCI6IjAuODAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=love+makes+a+%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc

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Hoffman, M. (2011). The Great Big Book of Families. Dial Books.

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This book is great because it not only goes through many different types of family structures, it also discusses the ways people's home lives can be different. All around, it highlights that every family is different and unique. This is another great book for younger learners.

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Big-Book-Families/dp/0803735162/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+great+big+book+of+families&qid=1667318300&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjYyIiwicXNhIjoiMS4yNyIsInFzcCI6IjEuMTQifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=the+great+big+book%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-1

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This fun and fascinating treasury features all kinds of families and their lives together. Each spread showcases one aspect of home life-from houses and holidays, to schools and pets, to feelings and family trees. Ros Asquith's humorous illustrations perfectly complement a charming text from the ...

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This book is a pretty straightforward view of being raised by grandparents. It talks about some of the struggles of being raised by grandparents, and also that it's not much different than being raised by parents.

https://www.amazon.com/Our-Grandfamily-Flip-Sided-Grandchildren-Grandparents/dp/1460275500/ref=sr_1_1?crid=33IBTDYIKHJWF&keywords=our+grandfamily&qid=1667318504&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjYwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=our+grandfamily%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-1

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Our Grandfamily: A Flip-Sided Book About Grandchildren Being Raised By Grandparents

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About the Book Our Grandfamily is an honest, yet reassuring look at the struggles and joys of living in a skip-generation family. Designed as a flip-sided book, dual stories allow readers to experience a unique type of family arrangement from the perspective of both grandparents and grandchildren...

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Werle, S. (2016). Our Grandfamily. Friesen Press.

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This presentation covers different family structures, including foster care, adoption, single-parent households, LGBTQ+ parents, being raised by grandparents and more. Although the nuclear family is the "norm" in the US, many of our students will have a family structure that looks different, and they deserve representation too.

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In "Three Pennies", Marin writes her wishes on pieces of paper and places them in a jar. For this activity, students will do the same thing. They will write down wishes for the jar as though they are Marin, putting themselves in the character's shoes. I believe this would be a very effective activity for students to imagine what it would be like to be in foster care or to be going through the adoption process, and gain some perspective as to what that might be like.

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This activity would be for younger students, likely after reading "The Great Big Book of Families", "Love Makes a Family" and "Our Grandfamily". Students will draw a family tree - not a traditional one showing lineage, but just a tree with images of their family members drawn in it. Students will share their family trees with their classmates and describe their family members. With all the different representations of family structures in the books they will have listened to they should feel confident in their family structure, whatever it may be. By sharing with their classmates, students get real-world examples of different family structures.

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For this activity, students will write a letter as though they are Leigh in "Dear Mr. Henshaw". They will write either to Leigh's mom or dad, regarding his feelings about his home life (how he misses his dad and the family dog, how he feels about living with just mom, etc.). Students get a pretty good sense of Leigh's feelings throughout the book, but having to write as Leigh will encourage students to use their critical thinking skills to dig deeper into Leigh as a character, and imagine what it might be to have his home life.