Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

Oxenbury, who received the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1999 for her illustrations for Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, has now illustrated the companion volume. Her thoroughly modern Alice, once again dressed in jumper, tights, and tennis shoes, skips her way through encounters with Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the White Queen, and Humpty Dumpty.

Kirkus Reviews

In a diversity lesson covered by the thinnest veneer of plot, children in a classroom pipe up to describe their families: large, small, nuclear, and extended; interracial, international, single-parent, divorced parents, same-sex parents; comprised of multiple generations, adoptees, absent members, and even pets. The teacher goes on to lead a quick discussion about "unhappy things that happen in families," then closes on positive notes, and the conclusion that "No families are the same. All families are definitely special!" Flavin's smiling, multicultural cast reinforces the message of this bluntly purposeful tale designed to spark family or class interchanges while validating a wide variety of family arrangements. (Picture book. 6-8)

School Library Journal (Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

K-Gr 3 When a teacher asks her students to tell about their families, each child speaks of a different configuration. There are big, small, and extended families. Children live with a mom and dad, grandparents, two same-gender parents, or stepparents. The youngsters mention adoption, divorce, and death of a parent and pets. Then, they discuss the good and bad times that families have together. The tone throughout is upbeat and positive. The bright watercolor illustrations depict smiling, multicultural people living in immaculate middle-class surroundings. This is a good book for introducing nontraditional families to children, but some readers might find the sunny cheerfulness unrealistic. Ann Morris's Families (HarperCollins, 2000) represents a variety of family situations with color photographs of multicultural families and a simple text, but does not include same-gender parents. Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT