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Family Stories

"Family stories" isn't really a recognized genre, but it should be. Sure, most novels deal with families on some level, but we aren't talking about the dysfunctional ones so common in modern (and Russian) fiction. For us, family stories are those that celebrate family life through a particular family's story, whether it's a Ma and Pa taking their girls across country in a covered wagon, an Austrian count saving his wife and kids from the Nazis, or a Jewish family in New York prior to World War I.

Tolstoy's famous observation that "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," is constantly disproved in these stories. Unhappy families are usually unhappy as a result of selfishness and sin, while happy ones enjoy remarkably diverse experiences that broaden each individual member and the whole family unit together. That's not to say happy families never suffer—they often suffer even more than others, but the difficulties bring them closer together and build character.

By extension, families who take heed of these real and fictional families' response to hardship will find themselves similarly bonded, thankful for each other instead of resentful, happy to sacrifice individual desires for the benefit of the group rather than demanding special favors. Other than Christ's Body, the family is the most important social group for Christians, and we prefer family stories that reflect a pursuit of godliness—the too-often-neglected Papa's Wife is an excellent example.

Some of the stories here are just for fun, though. Cheaper by the Dozen may not spur you on to piety, but it will make you laugh till your sides hurt. The Sarah, Plain and Tall books aren't churchy, but the love of Jacob Witting for his children and the woman who becomes their mother is instructive for us all. Family stories make good family reading, too, because the best ones appeal to each member. Besides, any activity that brings everyone together can never be considered a waste of time.

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Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8), Hardcover
All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$34.00 (1 in stock)
Beans on the Roof
by Betsy Byars, illustrated by Melodye Rosales
1st edition from Delacorte Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Before I Was Born
by Harriet Ziefert, Illustrated by Rufus Coes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bobbsey Twins #08
by Laura Lee Hope
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-4th grade
in Bobbsey Twins (Location: VIN-SER)
Bobbsey Twins #08 (tweed)
by Laura Lee Hope
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-4th grade
in Bobbsey Twins (Location: VIN-SER)
Bobbsey Twins in the Country
by Laura Lee Hope
Undated from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-4th grade
in Bobbsey Twins (Location: VIN-SER)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Boxcar Children
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
from Albert Whitman & Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Boxcar Children (Location: SER-BOX)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from The Folio Society
for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Doctor Like Papa
by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, Illustrated by James Bernardin
First Edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Farmhouse
by Sophie Blackall
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Fry Bread
by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
from Roaring Brook Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Gift from the Mikado
by Elizabeth P. Fleming
from Westminster John Knox Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of the Magi: Collectors Edition
by O. Henry, illustrated by Robert Sauber
from Unicorn Publishing House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
Happy Little Family
Fairchild Family Series #1
by Rebecca Caudill
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Home in the Woods
by Eliza Wheeler
from Nancy Paulsen Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
If It Weren't For You
by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Ben Shecter
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
In Plain Sight
by Richard Jackson, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Long Ago on a Silent Night
by Julie Berry, Illustrated by Annie Won
from Orchard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$17.99
Lysbet and the Fire Kittens
by Marietta D. Moskin & Margot Tomes
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Make Way for McCloskey
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Book Treasuries (Location: PIC-TRE)
$28.99
Mama's Way
by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Mary Whyte
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Moffats
Moffats #1
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt, Brace & World
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
More All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #3
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$34.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
1963 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
by John Steptoe
1st edition from Amistad Press
for 2nd-5th grade
1988 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
My Favorite Songs
by Maria Trapp
from Veritas Press
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.00
One Morning in Maine
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1953 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$18.99
Over Land and Sea
by Steven L. Layne, Illustrated by Jan Bower
from Pelican Publishing Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Garden (adapted)
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, adapted by James Howe and illustrated by Thomas B. Allen
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
So Far from the Sea
by Eve Bunting
from Clarion Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sun Up
by Alvin Tresselt, Henri Sorensen (Illustrator)
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
Word Books for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Super Jake and the King of Chaos
by Naomi Milliner
from Running Press
for 2nd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Village of Round and Square Houses
by Ann Grifalconi
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1987 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
When I Was Young in the Mountains
by Cynthia Rylant
from Dutton Children's Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
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