I Got a Family

by Melrose Cooper

Book Overview

"An upbeat celebration of life.... Adults will have fun reading this to children, singly and in groups, and listeners will want to respond with stories about their own families." --Booklist, starred review

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805019650
• ISBN13: 9780805019650
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Rhythmic, charming, full of feel-good love and truth!

I Got a Family is a book that should be in every young child's library. It is rhythmic and fun-loving, full of country dialect and down-home charm. A child describes each member of her family and how that individual demonstrates his/her special love. Simple perceptions about an old granny with "life oozing out her fingertips" or a brother that "loves her hard," on to a mother that clothes her as she grows and a father that spins her around but holds her tight til the "dizzies go." The text pulses with it's own beat-- the type of rhythm that catches every child's attention... and every parents. The story is fast but rich; the illustrations are simple and vibrant. Best of all, the end tells a truth about families for every child and parent to remember: "I got a Family, lovin' me, Pullin' 'n' pushin' 'n' shovin' me Into the paths where I gotta go, Givin' me all that I gotta know, Pilin' up feelings in a stack. And I got a heart that loves 'em back!" Melrose Cooper's poetry is all that's needed to describe this book. I know some day that my son and daughters will read this book to their own children. Then I'll be the granny who's "life oozes out her fingertips."