Love Is A Family

by Roma Downey

This is the story of a young girl being raised by her mother. She longs for a large noisy family like that of her friend. At the school family fun night, she sees all the different family combinations, and realizes it is love that makes a family.

Genres: Family, Picture Books, Childrens, Adoption

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

In a career spanning 25 years, Roma Downey has earned multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe nominations as an actress and a producer. Born in Ireland and classically trained in London, Ms. Downey has performed on stage with the famed Abbey Theatre Company and has appeared both on and off Broadway. Among her many television appearances Downey is probably best known for her starring role as Monica, the tender-hearted angel on the hit show “Touched by an Angel" which ran on CBS for almost a decade. She also played the leading role of Jackie Kennedy Onassis in the Emmy® award winning six-hour miniseries for NBC ‘A Woman Named Jackie.' 

Downey is president of LightWorkers Media a joint venture with MGM. Downey along with her husband Mark Burnett produced the Emmy® nominated miniseries ‘The Bible’ for History Channel, which was watched by over 100 million people in the US alone. They also produced ‘Son of God’ the feature film that stunned the box office when it became the 2nd highest faith movie opening of all time. In 2016 Downey received the Irish Diaspora Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Screen from the IFTA as well as her star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Hollywood trade publication Variety recognized Downey as a "Trailblazer" and listed her as Variety’s ‘100 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood.’ The Hollywood Reporter included her and Burnett as their ‘Most Influential People of 2013’. In 2014, Downey won the ‘Movie Guide Grace Award’ for her role as Mother Mary. That same year, Downey was also honored on Variety’s Women of Impact. 

In addition to “The Bible” and “Son of God”, Downey and Burnett have produced numerous television series including "The Women of the Bible" for LIFETIME, ‘The Dovekeepers’ for CBS, ‘A.D. The Bible Continues’ for NBC, and “ answered Prayers” for TLC.   They were also executive producers on the feature films “ Little Boy” for Open Road Films, “ Woodlawn” for PureFlix, “Ben-Hur”  for MGM and Paramount and the documentary “Faithkeepers” about the persecution of Christians and other minorities in the middle east. 

Downey's new venture LightWorkers.com, sees her label come to life as a digital platform and movement.  The mission of LightWorkers.com is to create and curate engaging, empowering and inspirational short-form content and to build a community of sharing, while igniting a movement in the real world that motivates people to share the good all around them.

Reviews

[Rina Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story Love is a Family is a contemporary realistic, which how a single mom raise her daughter. The girl is mad because she wants to has a real family. For the girl a real family is one who has a dad, mom, brother and sisters. She wants to has a lot people in her house. This book can be use to teach children diversity in the families. This book is for children in range age 4 and older, this book can be use for preschooler to teach families and diversity. The illustration use people, this will help the children to identify their self with the story.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily doesn’t think that her family is a real family because it only consists of herself and her single mom. She worries about an upcoming Family Fun Night while her mother assures her that a family is made from love. When Lily attends the event with her mother, she understands that there are many different types of families.

[Amber Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love is Family is a realistic fiction story of a single mother raising her daughter. In the story, Lily does not think her family is a real family because she does not have multiple siblings and a father. She worries about Family Fun Night and how people would look at her for only her mother and herself show. But hr mother reassures her that family is made of love. As they attend Family Fun Night she notices that some "families have stepdads, stepmoms, half sisters and brothers, single dads and families made up of different colors." Towards the end, I enjoyed the positive outlook on the book. The illustrations were well done and very supporting, I believe the topic would be interesting for children and may even pose questions. The story also shows that children are exposed to multiple perspectives of families and also represents a variety of cultural groups.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the positive outlook on this book! I think it will fit will in my Family Text Set because of the rising percentage of single family homes. Children often assume what things stand for based on their observed knowledge, and many tv shows do show families as a mom, dad, and 2+ children. Often time single parents are not portrayed in the media.

Lily thinks that her family isn't "real" because she lives with her single mother. She thinks that a family is a mom, dad, and brothers and sisters. She is often upset over this view but later realizes that the size of the family doesn't matter, it's who loves you.

The illustrations were well done and supporting, the topic is interesting towards children. It does not approach many cultures outright, but it is age appropriate and easy to relate to.

[Jomal Childers · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reading this book I was able to connect as an adult by having memories of my childhood. Today there are many wonderfully functioning single parent families that produce great products, this book shines a positive light on single parent families; it negates the negative stereotypes that society place on them. I felt sad when the girl didn’t think her family was complete, this is reality for most children who live in these types of family and I am glad this book was able to depict their reality. The author did a wonderful job with the text and word choices, and I believe the illustrations are fitting for the text as well as age appropriate for children.

[Lola Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book about families. Families come in all shapes and sizes. This book reminds us to appreciate what kind of family we have. Children of all ages will be able to connect to this book!

[Rachel Battocletti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of the Guided Creative Curriculum to my preschool students. It is about a single mom and her daughter getting ready to start school. The daughter is feeling insecure about her family and that it doesn’t look like what she imagined a “typical” family looks like.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there was a spot for zero stars I would have done that. Using the word hate in this book is unacceptable with the way our world is. The illustration are creepy and actually scared kids in my class. Maybe for kids over the age of 8 but it should never have been in a curriculum for prek

[Lizanell · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate books that are straight forward, I'm not a big fan of "message" books that try to hide in a story. This book had a good lesson but I felt like it was forced.

[Lee Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY, I LOVE IT. :(

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written about different kinds of families.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

great! nice job explaining how all families are different and different perks to all of them. none better than they other just different and based on love

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for family building, and relationships.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our Favorite book :)

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for solo parents and others who have non traditional families.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely picture book for children of single parents or atypical families.

[Joshua]

This story was extremely for me since my family is not big. The most important thing to take away from this story is that family is important no matter how big or small. Love is the family is a family genre centered children's book about a girl named Lily whose family is her mom. Lily noticed that at her school kids like her have stepmom/stepdad, grandparents, and some of them are even adopted. This creates problems for kids who think they don’t have a real family because they just have a mom or dad
This is a great book to teach children that not every family must have a mom and a dad. Students learn that every family is different and special, and where there is love there is family. This book can also create another perspective for my students to look at when talking to other kids. The cultural relation of having one parent in a household is all too familiar to me. That really all I know is living with just my mom growing up. The book displayed cultural differences in other kids as well as Lily throughout the book. The illustration was perfectly corresponding with the text, however, the graphic art wasn’t some of my favorites, it still depicted a great message for my kids. Overall I think this book will be a fantastic choice to read to my students

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book for my literary collection because of the story. I grew up with a single mother, as I know that many other children in my future classroom will too. Not only is this book good to read for those with a single parent, but any type of smaller family to know that it does not matter how big your family is in numbers, but how big the love is. I was personally influenced by this book as a child and know that others will benefit from it as well.

[Stephen Escalera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Lily has a problem. Or at least, she THINKS she has a problem. Her family is "weird." The Family Fun Night is coming up and she is worried about being the oddball since her family isn't like all the other families. She only has one person to bring - her mom. No brothers or sisters or even a dad. Surely hers cannot be a real family!! But she soon finds out with her mother's help that families come in all shapes and sizes. There's the family with 7 kids or the children that live with their grandparents or the little girl who lives alone with her dad or the little girl who was adopted. Not only are each of these families different, but the way they show love is different, too! Lily soon learns that love, not size or shape or color, is what makes a family "real."

Touched By an Angel star Roma Downey draws from her own experiences both as a child with a single parent and being a single parent herself to beautifully and simply teach the lesson that "There are as many ways for families to show love as there are different kinds of families." There isn't much of a storyline, but then again one isn't needed to teach the important truth that no matter what your family looks like, the important part is that you love each other. Downey uses just a few of the many ways that families are made up to show the diversity found in families but all with the same characteristic of love.

The book is illustrated exquisitely by Justine Gasquet, drawing the mother who looks strikingly similar to Downey. Each picture is full of expression, from capturing the drama in Lily's face in her seeming dilemma to the flurry of activity at Family Fun Night to the fun-filled chaos of the neighbor children's bedtime pillow fight. The lively pictures capture the essence of the book perfectly.

We are always looking for books at the library that teach positive values to our children and this is definitely one of them. For those children who might be worried about how their family is "different," this book is a great teaching tool to show that where there is love, there will always be a family.

[Keturah Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of a little girl who is raised by a single mother. The little girl ends up being upset because she doesn't want to show up to her school's festival with just one family member (her mom). She thinks that her and her mom aren't considered a family because it's just the two of them. The book then discusses the different kinds of families all around the school. This book applies to my text set because it represents families. The main characters represent a single parent family and some other families briefly mentioned in the story represent other families.

I think this book will be interesting for children and is age-appropriate and children will be able to understand it. It also includes convincing characters and language that's appropriate for any age group. The illustrations definitely will hold the children's interest and they add to the story.
This story also shows that children are exposed to multiple perspectives and represent a variety of cultural groups.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre - picture book

Reading level - 1st to 3rd grade

Topic and theme - family fun night at school

Curricula use - read aloud

Social - non-traditional families

literary elements- internal conflict with the girl being unhappy about how her family looks with just her and her mom, she wants her family to look like Melissa's family

Text and pictures -

Summary - This is a neat story about a girl who is not happy with her family because it is just her and her mom and she would like to have a dad and brothers and sisters. The school is having a family fun night and she begins to see that all families are different. Some kids live with just their dad and some live with their grandparents. Some have two parents and some have been adopted. She then realizes that her mom and her are enough for love and family. T

[Mackenzie Loula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Is a Family by Roma Downey is a great book about how not all families are made up of a mom and a dad. There are many different types of families, and just because they are small or are missing members, does not mean they are missing love. Lily is a young little girl who becomes nervous when her school hosts a family fun night. She is scared that the other students will think she is weird because her family is only her mom. But once family fun night happens, she looks around and notices that there are many different types of families, and she feels reassured. This book is a great way to introduce the topic of family types to children. Not all families are made up of moms and dads, and that is important for children to realize. This book will also help students with similar family types feel more comfortable with their situation.

[Kristen Dota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book to be on my top ten because it again deals with real life situations. This book talks about a young girl who is afraid to bring her small family, (her and her mom) to family night at school because other children will laugh and stare at her small family. I think this is a really good book for not only the classroom to have, but to have at home as well. It talks about all the different types of families there are, and how each one is special and important in their own way. I think alot of people can relate to this book because the divorce rate now of days is alot higher then it was back in the day. Children struggle with divorce, and this is a great book to have to help remind get through the emotions of it.

[Miley Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subgroup: Family; Different types of families

Genre: realistic fiction

Synopsis: Lily comes home from school upset that her family isn't like everyone else's, or so she thinks. She is upset because it is just her and her mother, no daddy, brothers or sisters. When they get to the schools family fun night she realizes and learns that everyone's family is different; she's not the only one with a different family and that love is what makes people part of a family.

9.) Downey, R. (2001). Love is a Family. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Downey, Roma (2001).
Subgroup: Single-parent
Genre: Fiction
Topic: Single parents, Unmarried mothers
Synopsis: Lily is having a Family Fun Night at her school and is embarrassed that her family is just her and her mother. As Lily complains about what is wrong with how small and quite their family is, her mother calmly explains that all you need in a family is love no matter how many people are in it. At the end when they go to Family Fun Night, Lily realizes that all families are different and kind of odd in their own way. As long as there is love in the family that's all that matters.

[Mairead Lawyer]

“Love is a Family” tells the story of how Lily comes home one day from school and tells her mom that she wants a real family. Her mom is a single mother and Lily believes that her friends are going to think she is weird because she does not have a traditional family. But, when Lily arrives to the school dance she realizes that Remi lives with just her father and another one of her classmates, Tamika, was adopted. The commonality of all of these families is that they all love each other, and that is what Lily learns is all that matters.

[Tonika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story. This story tells how a single mother raised her daughter, and of course all children that only have their mothers in their life wishes to have a family that included not only mom, but dad and siblings as well. We all know that this is not always possible due to certain situations, I think this story would be a great story to teach children about family and what makes a family. Although some children have big families and some have small families that doesn't mean that the amount of love is lost because love doesn't change at all.

[Kelci Cox-Griswold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily is upset because she thinks that she does not have a real family. She wishes that she had a dad and brothers and sisters. After realizing that all families are different she knows that a family is just people who love each other. This is a really cute book. It would be good to read to a class of students who have different types of families. It would show kids that even if they don't have a mom, dad, or siblings they still have a family.

[Jadai Mcgee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Downey, R. (2001). Love is a family. New York, New York: HarperCollins
Subgroup: Single Parent Families
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Synopsis: This book is about a young girl who worries what the other kids at her school will think when she comes with only her mother for Family Fun Night. When she arrives, Lily realizes that everyone's family is different from her own and it is not weird at all. She understands that family isn't about who make a family but by love.

[Roniqua Pitts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books shows that nnot all families are the same. There are different types of family structures but they all share the same qualities. Love is in every family. The pictures are very colorful and realistic. They depict the characters in a realistic manner. The language used in the book is appropriate for the age range of students. The book also shows characters from different ethnic backgrounds.