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All-of-a-Kind Family #1
All-of-a-Kind Family
It's the turn of the century in New York's Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters - Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie. Follow along as they search for hidden buttons while dusting Mama's front parlor, or explore the basement warehouse of Papa's peddler's shop on rainy days. The five girls enjoy doing everything together, especially when it involves holidays and surprises. But no one could have prepared them for the biggest surprise of all!
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1951
About the author
Sydney Taylor
28 books138 followers Taylor was born on October 31, 1904 on New York City's Lower East Side. Her Jewish immigrant family lived in poverty conditions, but they felt great respect and appreciation for the country that gave them hope and opportunities for the future. This childhood led Taylor eventually into writing.
Taylor started working as a secretary after she graduated from high school, married her husband, and spent her nights with the Lenox Hill Players, a theater group. As an actress, she also learned modern dance, which she thoroughly enjoyed. After dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Taylor took time off to have her one and only child, a daughter. As her daughter grew up Taylor would tell her stories about her own childhood. Because of her daughter's inquiries, Taylor wrote down her memories and then tucked them away in a drawer.
While Taylor was working at a nonprofit summer camp directing and choreographing dance and dramatics, her husband saw an announcement about a writing contest. Unbeknownst to his wife, he sent in her manuscript about her childhood. A short time later Taylor received word that an editor from Wilcox and Follett wanted to publish her work. Surprised and somewhat nervous, Taylor edited and revised her story, and All-of-a-Kind Family became a popular book. She had also won first prize in the contest. Taylor's success encouraged her to pen four more books in the series and write more short stories for books and magazines.
This author, actress, dancer, and choreographer then passed away from cancer on February 12, 1978. In her honor, the Sydney Taylor Book Award is given each year by the Jewish Association of Libraries to a book for young people that authentically portrays the Jewish experience.
In 2014, the All-of-a-Kind Family series is being re-released for another generation of readers to understand and appreciate Jewish immigrant life at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Taylor started working as a secretary after she graduated from high school, married her husband, and spent her nights with the Lenox Hill Players, a theater group. As an actress, she also learned modern dance, which she thoroughly enjoyed. After dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Taylor took time off to have her one and only child, a daughter. As her daughter grew up Taylor would tell her stories about her own childhood. Because of her daughter's inquiries, Taylor wrote down her memories and then tucked them away in a drawer.
While Taylor was working at a nonprofit summer camp directing and choreographing dance and dramatics, her husband saw an announcement about a writing contest. Unbeknownst to his wife, he sent in her manuscript about her childhood. A short time later Taylor received word that an editor from Wilcox and Follett wanted to publish her work. Surprised and somewhat nervous, Taylor edited and revised her story, and All-of-a-Kind Family became a popular book. She had also won first prize in the contest. Taylor's success encouraged her to pen four more books in the series and write more short stories for books and magazines.
This author, actress, dancer, and choreographer then passed away from cancer on February 12, 1978. In her honor, the Sydney Taylor Book Award is given each year by the Jewish Association of Libraries to a book for young people that authentically portrays the Jewish experience.
In 2014, the All-of-a-Kind Family series is being re-released for another generation of readers to understand and appreciate Jewish immigrant life at the beginning of the twentieth century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,409 reviews
May 29, 2017
As a kid the first chapter book I remember reading was All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. In the perfect historical fiction book, which later became a series, for Jewish girls, Taylor detailed the life of a family of five girls who lived in the tenements of the Lower East Side around the turn of the 20th century. I read the entire series so many times when I was growing up that I felt as though I was part of the family. When a challenge I entered called for a classic book I read as a child, I could not resist revisiting this story.
Mama and Papa lived a life typical of first generation Jewish immigrants to New York. Papa works as a junk dealer and Mama is a prototypical housewife who runs her home to perfection. They are parents to five girls who are all two years apart in age: Ella, Henrietta (Henny), Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie. The family occupies a four room apartment, and, despite the hardships that come with being an immigrant family, live a comfortable life mixing Jewish and American traditions. In her first book in the series, Taylor takes her reader around the year to show what a traditional Jewish life was like at the time.
As a girl, I always wanted to be Ella. She was the oldest and attempted to set herself apart from her sisters. Whether she was their spokesperson in front of adults or assisting their mother at home, Ella appeared special to me, both as an oldest sibling and as a person. She leads her sisters on adventures to the library, to buy a birthday present for their father, at the beach at Coney Island, and all the holiday celebrations. Growing up, I always found it exciting to read about a Jewish family and seeing how they lived when they first arrived in the United States. They observed the same traditions as I did, and, consequently, I wanted to revisit the book over and over, and I did, savoring the holiday traditional scenes the most.
Each sister has a distinct personality: Henny as a tomboyish rascal, Sarah the sensitive middle child, Charlotte the dreamer, and Gertie the youngest who at 4 1/2 is still very much the baby of the family. All these personalities meld without much conflict, and Taylor weaves their adventure to form a near perfect family. Without the technology available today, the girls had to create their own adventure, whether to visit their father at his junk shop or making up games to play in bed. Even though the family did not have much for luxuries, it was a more wholesome life than today, and the girls always appeared happy with their station in life.
Following All-of-a-Kind Family, Taylor wrote three more books in the series and later a stand alone book featuring Ella. I still own all of them, hoping that one of my daughters will love the books the way I did. This series remained my favorite comfort read growing up, even when the books were well below my reading level. Taylor created the ideal historical fiction series for Jewish girls, and these books have stood the test of time. I am delighted that I was able to revisit their lives again for a reading challenge, and I have an inkling that this will not be the last time that I travel back to early 20th century Lower East Side New York.
Mama and Papa lived a life typical of first generation Jewish immigrants to New York. Papa works as a junk dealer and Mama is a prototypical housewife who runs her home to perfection. They are parents to five girls who are all two years apart in age: Ella, Henrietta (Henny), Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie. The family occupies a four room apartment, and, despite the hardships that come with being an immigrant family, live a comfortable life mixing Jewish and American traditions. In her first book in the series, Taylor takes her reader around the year to show what a traditional Jewish life was like at the time.
As a girl, I always wanted to be Ella. She was the oldest and attempted to set herself apart from her sisters. Whether she was their spokesperson in front of adults or assisting their mother at home, Ella appeared special to me, both as an oldest sibling and as a person. She leads her sisters on adventures to the library, to buy a birthday present for their father, at the beach at Coney Island, and all the holiday celebrations. Growing up, I always found it exciting to read about a Jewish family and seeing how they lived when they first arrived in the United States. They observed the same traditions as I did, and, consequently, I wanted to revisit the book over and over, and I did, savoring the holiday traditional scenes the most.
Each sister has a distinct personality: Henny as a tomboyish rascal, Sarah the sensitive middle child, Charlotte the dreamer, and Gertie the youngest who at 4 1/2 is still very much the baby of the family. All these personalities meld without much conflict, and Taylor weaves their adventure to form a near perfect family. Without the technology available today, the girls had to create their own adventure, whether to visit their father at his junk shop or making up games to play in bed. Even though the family did not have much for luxuries, it was a more wholesome life than today, and the girls always appeared happy with their station in life.
Following All-of-a-Kind Family, Taylor wrote three more books in the series and later a stand alone book featuring Ella. I still own all of them, hoping that one of my daughters will love the books the way I did. This series remained my favorite comfort read growing up, even when the books were well below my reading level. Taylor created the ideal historical fiction series for Jewish girls, and these books have stood the test of time. I am delighted that I was able to revisit their lives again for a reading challenge, and I have an inkling that this will not be the last time that I travel back to early 20th century Lower East Side New York.
March 3, 2011
First re-read of this book in years uncountable.
This is the book from which I first learned about the Jewish faith. As a little heathen child, I'd been dragged to various Christian churches by friends and cousins, and I knew (I thought) all about that religion which was boring, boring, boring. But this...nobody I knew ever built a little bitty house in their backyard. Or got to eat parsley dipped in salt water. I was fascinated.
Not only was I a little heathen, I was also a little singleton. Reading this story of 5 close and loving sisters made me envious and amazed. Mama was patient, she was kind, she was wise, she was gentle. She was perfect! Papa was all those things, too, plus he had crinkly eye-corners when he smiled! And the pushcarts! The Library Lady! Dusting for buttons! Coney Is-land! I'm sure I read this book at least 30 times before I turned 14. I don't think I've read it since.
I sank back into it with a sigh. They were all still there in New York in 1912, waiting for me. Only this time, I was different. I watched Mama, and I marveled. I know now that Taylor based this family on her own, and I wonder more about some of the stories. Mama worked so hard, so long, and was so incredibly patient. The family's poverty resonates more with me now, and I see what passes between Mama and Papa when they worry about money. And when 4 of the girls are down with Scarlet Fever? What must have gone through her mind that never showed? What about all that sewing? Five girls? That's a lot of little girls to raise on a junkman's iffy income. The picture painted with this book is full of depth and compassion and love. Taylor's writing appears effortless. The illustrations are lovely, too.
It's a wonderful book. It evokes an era that's gone forever, and it does it without undue sentimentality and nostalgia. The hardship is right there for those with eyes to see, but so is the love. This family is a whole, functioning, happy family, and it's a delight to join it for an hour. In fact, I'm about to go read the rest of the series, so I'll be joining it for a few days. Lucky me. You should be so lucky.
Also? The chick pea man! I love the chick pea man: "Arbis! Shaynicke, guttinke arbislach! Keuf meine heise arbis!"
This is the book from which I first learned about the Jewish faith. As a little heathen child, I'd been dragged to various Christian churches by friends and cousins, and I knew (I thought) all about that religion which was boring, boring, boring. But this...nobody I knew ever built a little bitty house in their backyard. Or got to eat parsley dipped in salt water. I was fascinated.
Not only was I a little heathen, I was also a little singleton. Reading this story of 5 close and loving sisters made me envious and amazed. Mama was patient, she was kind, she was wise, she was gentle. She was perfect! Papa was all those things, too, plus he had crinkly eye-corners when he smiled! And the pushcarts! The Library Lady! Dusting for buttons! Coney Is-land! I'm sure I read this book at least 30 times before I turned 14. I don't think I've read it since.
I sank back into it with a sigh. They were all still there in New York in 1912, waiting for me. Only this time, I was different. I watched Mama, and I marveled. I know now that Taylor based this family on her own, and I wonder more about some of the stories. Mama worked so hard, so long, and was so incredibly patient. The family's poverty resonates more with me now, and I see what passes between Mama and Papa when they worry about money. And when 4 of the girls are down with Scarlet Fever? What must have gone through her mind that never showed? What about all that sewing? Five girls? That's a lot of little girls to raise on a junkman's iffy income. The picture painted with this book is full of depth and compassion and love. Taylor's writing appears effortless. The illustrations are lovely, too.
It's a wonderful book. It evokes an era that's gone forever, and it does it without undue sentimentality and nostalgia. The hardship is right there for those with eyes to see, but so is the love. This family is a whole, functioning, happy family, and it's a delight to join it for an hour. In fact, I'm about to go read the rest of the series, so I'll be joining it for a few days. Lucky me. You should be so lucky.
Also? The chick pea man! I love the chick pea man: "Arbis! Shaynicke, guttinke arbislach! Keuf meine heise arbis!"
August 5, 2021
A heart-warming, gently humorous and informative family story, and my one main regret is that I have only recently discovered Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family and its sequels. Wonderful, delightful episodes show the joys, the struggles and the close family and neighbourhood ties of a Jewish-American family in early 20th century New York City. I love how the different Jewish holidays, how Jewish cultural and religious traditions are depicted and shown throughout the story, informatively, but with no hint of didacticism. And I especially appreciate how the all-of-a-kind family also shares their traditions with friends who are not Jewish, specifically Charlie and the Library Lady, who actually end up rekindling, rediscovering their romance, which had been thwarted by Charlie's bigoted and judgmental parents. In today's world, where multiculturalism, where different cultures are again so often under attack and scrutiny, All-of-a-Kind Family clerly and lovingly demonstrates that different cultures can not only exist and peacefully coexist in a country, in a city, in a neighbourhood, but that these different cultures can be and should be shared, that sharing one's cultural heritage leads to tolerance and increasing understanding (and that even though we might have different cultural and religious traditions, we are basically all quite similar in many ways). Recommended for anyone (both children and adults) who enjoys warm family tales, as well as anyone interested in learning about Jewish-American culture and traditions.
April 24, 2022
I first read this book about 50 years ago (yes, I am dating myself) and the last time I read it was probably 49 years ago. I remember loving the book at the time but I think read it just the years I was 9 and 10, and I think I always read library copies. I am wondering if I even read it in third grade but I don’t remember for sure, so I’m sticking with my original read date, which was when I was in fourth grade.
I did a reread, something I’ve long wanted to do, mostly because the Children's Books group is reading it for one of their book clubs. (I feel so grateful to them; now that I’ve reread it I wish I’d done so years ago, and probably more than just once.) I reread this book from March 16, 2013 through March 17th, 2013.
I guessed about the couple in question, even before the plot gave me the background or any hints, but probably didn’t as an 8-10 year old on first reading. I did want more about the two of them and their future, but I guess that’s what sequels are for. And this book did have a delightful ending.
I love how close the sisters are, how thoughtful they are, how they play fair, and how each of their different personalities comes across (I’ve always been especially fond of Sarah, the middle daughter), and I appreciate the parenting they got too. It’s just a wonderful family. I envied the closeness of the family but was and remain a bit surprised that the girls’ child friends didn’t make any appearances; it was only family and adult family friends that showed up in the story.
I love how Jewish holidays and traditions are seamlessly incorporated right into the story. Although I’m Jewish, my nuclear family never celebrated Jewish holidays, not at all. I went to a couple Passover seders at cousins’ and then when I was about 12 I learned and participated in two different friends’ Jewish family celebrations, but not on a completely regular basis.
What’s funny is when I was young I read tenement and how money was dear so I thought of this family as poor, and I guess they are in a sense, but there was enough money to give each girl 1¢ a day in spending money, which is 35¢ a week, and that money could buy a lot back then, and they had enough for a few other extras too, so now they don’t seem particularly destitute or needy to me.
I loved the library and the books portions of the story, and always have.
There is some anachronistic material such as when describing men of different ethnic groups and the “freaks” at Coney Island, and the differences between girls and boys regarding interests, careers, and roles, but I accepted that. This was historical fiction even 50 years ago.
The ink drawings are lovely and really add to the story. They help make it a perfect book for 7 or 8 though 10 year old chapter book reading kids but the story and characters can be enjoyed by everybody, which makes it an ideal book for read aloud, for one to one, for families for sure, and for teachers and students. Adults will enjoy the reading experience as much as the children do.
I hated being an only child and always wanted a big family and at ages 9 and 10 it was sisters I wanted, so I know I got vicarious gratification from this and many other books about families.
This is a perfect comfort read book and a lovely, fun, heartwarming, and old-fashioned yet timeless family story.
Thanks to Goodreads friend Melody I know to read only 2 of the 4 sequels, and I do want to read both of them.
I did a reread, something I’ve long wanted to do, mostly because the Children's Books group is reading it for one of their book clubs. (I feel so grateful to them; now that I’ve reread it I wish I’d done so years ago, and probably more than just once.) I reread this book from March 16, 2013 through March 17th, 2013.
I guessed about the couple in question, even before the plot gave me the background or any hints, but probably didn’t as an 8-10 year old on first reading. I did want more about the two of them and their future, but I guess that’s what sequels are for. And this book did have a delightful ending.
I love how close the sisters are, how thoughtful they are, how they play fair, and how each of their different personalities comes across (I’ve always been especially fond of Sarah, the middle daughter), and I appreciate the parenting they got too. It’s just a wonderful family. I envied the closeness of the family but was and remain a bit surprised that the girls’ child friends didn’t make any appearances; it was only family and adult family friends that showed up in the story.
I love how Jewish holidays and traditions are seamlessly incorporated right into the story. Although I’m Jewish, my nuclear family never celebrated Jewish holidays, not at all. I went to a couple Passover seders at cousins’ and then when I was about 12 I learned and participated in two different friends’ Jewish family celebrations, but not on a completely regular basis.
What’s funny is when I was young I read tenement and how money was dear so I thought of this family as poor, and I guess they are in a sense, but there was enough money to give each girl 1¢ a day in spending money, which is 35¢ a week, and that money could buy a lot back then, and they had enough for a few other extras too, so now they don’t seem particularly destitute or needy to me.
I loved the library and the books portions of the story, and always have.
There is some anachronistic material such as when describing men of different ethnic groups and the “freaks” at Coney Island, and the differences between girls and boys regarding interests, careers, and roles, but I accepted that. This was historical fiction even 50 years ago.
The ink drawings are lovely and really add to the story. They help make it a perfect book for 7 or 8 though 10 year old chapter book reading kids but the story and characters can be enjoyed by everybody, which makes it an ideal book for read aloud, for one to one, for families for sure, and for teachers and students. Adults will enjoy the reading experience as much as the children do.
I hated being an only child and always wanted a big family and at ages 9 and 10 it was sisters I wanted, so I know I got vicarious gratification from this and many other books about families.
This is a perfect comfort read book and a lovely, fun, heartwarming, and old-fashioned yet timeless family story.
Thanks to Goodreads friend Melody I know to read only 2 of the 4 sequels, and I do want to read both of them.
May 10, 2017
This is a series I reread every year. No one else has ever captured the early 1900's in the Jewish lower side of New York like this, and it's fascinating to read about the holidays and customs and everyday life that this little troop of girls experiences. I still wish I could walk through those streets teeming with peddlers selling big dill pickles, candied orange slices, and spiced chick peas!
These books are great for those who love old-fashioned stories about growing up, like the Little House, Ginnie and Geneva, Betsy-Tacy, Moffats, or Beverly Cleary books. These authors understood that everyday life at home and in school held wonderful adventures and mysteries all their own.
These books are great for those who love old-fashioned stories about growing up, like the Little House, Ginnie and Geneva, Betsy-Tacy, Moffats, or Beverly Cleary books. These authors understood that everyday life at home and in school held wonderful adventures and mysteries all their own.
March 11, 2021
Sydney Taylor’s fictionalised account of her childhood revolves around New York’s Lower East Side and its bustling Jewish community in the early to mid-1900s: where Taylor the daughter of German-Jewish immigrants grew up. When Taylor’s book was accepted for publication in the early 1950s, it was a tense time for Jewish-Americans, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg had been arrested as communist spies and reporting of their case frequently emphasized their Jewish backgrounds, provoking extensive fears of an anti-Semitic backlash. The anxieties of this era are evident in Taylor’s editor’s concerns that the Jewish family at the novel’s heart weren’t American enough, requiring Taylor to alter her manuscript to include Fourth of July celebrations alongside her existing, detailed accounts of Jewish holidays, as well as a love story between two non-Jewish characters. But these additions now seem peripheral to Taylor’s narrative which found enough of a readership to sustain four sequels, often cited as the beginning of modern children’s literature featuring Jewish life. Although the kinds of cultural pressures and tensions reflected in its editing are still far too familiar.
Taylor’s novel centres on five sisters and their everyday experiences, it’s a disarmingly direct piece, simply told, echoing its origins in the bedtime stories Taylor constructed for her daughter who was eager to hear about children like her. It works on a number of levels: as an outstanding cultural and social history of working-class, Jewish New York from the food the family eats to the Yiddish-speaking markets where their mother bargains for groceries, as well as revealing - sometimes jarringly so - the ways in which ethnic or religious divides defined newly-immigrant families, the Italian, Polish and other families trying to find a foothold in America; and as an exceptionally charming children’s story with wonderfully relatable, vividly-drawn characters, accompanied by a wealth of evocative illustrations by Helen John.
Taylor’s novel centres on five sisters and their everyday experiences, it’s a disarmingly direct piece, simply told, echoing its origins in the bedtime stories Taylor constructed for her daughter who was eager to hear about children like her. It works on a number of levels: as an outstanding cultural and social history of working-class, Jewish New York from the food the family eats to the Yiddish-speaking markets where their mother bargains for groceries, as well as revealing - sometimes jarringly so - the ways in which ethnic or religious divides defined newly-immigrant families, the Italian, Polish and other families trying to find a foothold in America; and as an exceptionally charming children’s story with wonderfully relatable, vividly-drawn characters, accompanied by a wealth of evocative illustrations by Helen John.
June 19, 2017
One of the best books ever. I love all the little girls and Mama and Papa and their friends and relatives. The setting is amazing, too. I kinda want to go there, even though it was probably a pretty hard life. :)
January 20, 2018
What a wonderful, endearing, lovely read this was! The adventures of five little girls (Gertie, Charlotte, Sarah, Henny and Ella) aged between four and twelve living with their mama who looks after the home, and papa who runs a junk shop in the East Side in New York City. I shouldn’t perhaps say adventures, for really this is the story of their daily lives, the daily happenings, chores, trips to the library, the little ups and down, the joys and sorrows that life brings every day―but that in itself is an adventure and I loved every bit of it.
The book opens with the girls heading off to the library on Friday, the day being ‘library day’ for them. That was enough to have me love it! But I loved it for so much more. For one, that the girls and their parents find happiness and contentment in what little they had; their means may have been modest but they lived life to the fullest within it and had their little pleasures with trips to the library, to the market, celebrating various festivals, even a day-out at Coney Island. This is something I feel one needs to remind oneself every so often, in a time when we are always wanting more no matter how much we have and are never satisfied―one doesn’t need to have much to be happy, just to appreciate all one has and enjoy it to the fullest rather than spending all one’s time brooding over all one hasn’t. (This aspect was very reminiscent of the Family at One End Street, and something I loved about that book too.) The other thing about this book I really loved was how rich it was in terms of showcasing culture. The beautiful detail in which Taylor describes Jewish festivals and observances makes one feel as if one is there with the family, watching the celebrations as they happen, listening to the sounds, and smelling the food (almost tasting it, even). And then of course the people themselves―none of the girls are really naughty as such, mostly well-behaved but they are all very real, very human and very likeable and I loved them all.
I was so thrilled to learn that this is a series of books and there are four more I haven’t read. Really looking forward to these.
It wouldn’t do to not mention the illustrations by Helen John which I also really liked very much.
A delightful read- if I could have rated it more than five stars, I would have :) I know I will keep coming back to this one often.
The book opens with the girls heading off to the library on Friday, the day being ‘library day’ for them. That was enough to have me love it! But I loved it for so much more. For one, that the girls and their parents find happiness and contentment in what little they had; their means may have been modest but they lived life to the fullest within it and had their little pleasures with trips to the library, to the market, celebrating various festivals, even a day-out at Coney Island. This is something I feel one needs to remind oneself every so often, in a time when we are always wanting more no matter how much we have and are never satisfied―one doesn’t need to have much to be happy, just to appreciate all one has and enjoy it to the fullest rather than spending all one’s time brooding over all one hasn’t. (This aspect was very reminiscent of the Family at One End Street, and something I loved about that book too.) The other thing about this book I really loved was how rich it was in terms of showcasing culture. The beautiful detail in which Taylor describes Jewish festivals and observances makes one feel as if one is there with the family, watching the celebrations as they happen, listening to the sounds, and smelling the food (almost tasting it, even). And then of course the people themselves―none of the girls are really naughty as such, mostly well-behaved but they are all very real, very human and very likeable and I loved them all.
I was so thrilled to learn that this is a series of books and there are four more I haven’t read. Really looking forward to these.
It wouldn’t do to not mention the illustrations by Helen John which I also really liked very much.
A delightful read- if I could have rated it more than five stars, I would have :) I know I will keep coming back to this one often.
August 1, 2016
I am so suprised this book (appears to me ) to be unheard of in the UK. It took some trouble and cost quite a lot finding a copy, but so glad we did.
A beautiful book describing daily life of a close Jewish immigrant family. We loved the adventures of these sisters. Having lived in Israel, the descriptions of Jewish festivals brought back happy memories of time spent with friends. The descriptions of the festivals and their meaning for the family, illustrates how humans seem to benefit from rituals celebrating points throughout the year, and how beneficial they are whether made up or from religious reasons.
We liked the day to day details of games played, food eaten etc. We marvelled at how the fire engine was pulled by horses.
We found it confusing how poverty was assessed. Nobody they knew could afford to own a book, something we all take for granted these days. But they owned a piano and it seems that several of the girls had lessons. We have to run a stall selling vegetables to raise money for music lessons. Perhaps they cost less in comparison a hundred years ago.
We found it fascinating that although written over a century ago there is still much of the story that would be the same if it were written today.
My daughter said it would be in her top 5 books of all time.
A beautiful book describing daily life of a close Jewish immigrant family. We loved the adventures of these sisters. Having lived in Israel, the descriptions of Jewish festivals brought back happy memories of time spent with friends. The descriptions of the festivals and their meaning for the family, illustrates how humans seem to benefit from rituals celebrating points throughout the year, and how beneficial they are whether made up or from religious reasons.
We liked the day to day details of games played, food eaten etc. We marvelled at how the fire engine was pulled by horses.
We found it confusing how poverty was assessed. Nobody they knew could afford to own a book, something we all take for granted these days. But they owned a piano and it seems that several of the girls had lessons. We have to run a stall selling vegetables to raise money for music lessons. Perhaps they cost less in comparison a hundred years ago.
We found it fascinating that although written over a century ago there is still much of the story that would be the same if it were written today.
My daughter said it would be in her top 5 books of all time.
February 27, 2017
I love to read good children's literature and this book of a bygone era (1912) was informative and charming. I was hoping this might be the book I would choose to read with my grade-school grandchildren this summer, but I am not sure if it would meet the diverse needs. I loved the family solidarity and I particularly enjoyed the traditional religious observances. If I do choose this for the summer, I would look for a book on Jewish traditions with pictures to share with the children. I would like them to have a broader understanding of different cultures, places and even times.
Yesterday while tending two grandchildren ages almost four and six, I read them the first two chapters of this book. They were very engaged with the first chapter and couldn't understand how children could not own their own books. The little girl, six, loved the second chapter with bright buttons and dusting, but her brother left in the middle to find toys. What a nice teaching tool it provided for us to talk about the value of a penny and that a family could be happy even if they were not affluent.
Now it goes to a granddaughter age nine who will read it to her six year old sister. It is definitely worth sharing, and I will be very interested in their response. Will all of the religious observances and the different food be too much? Who knows?
Thanks to Brina for suggesting it and to Beth for helping me to find a copy.
Yesterday while tending two grandchildren ages almost four and six, I read them the first two chapters of this book. They were very engaged with the first chapter and couldn't understand how children could not own their own books. The little girl, six, loved the second chapter with bright buttons and dusting, but her brother left in the middle to find toys. What a nice teaching tool it provided for us to talk about the value of a penny and that a family could be happy even if they were not affluent.
Now it goes to a granddaughter age nine who will read it to her six year old sister. It is definitely worth sharing, and I will be very interested in their response. Will all of the religious observances and the different food be too much? Who knows?
Thanks to Brina for suggesting it and to Beth for helping me to find a copy.
November 14, 2017
All of a Kind Family is just so amazing! Such a sweet story of a Jewish family living in the early 1900s. So sweet and innocent. I remember reading it when I was younger and loving it, and was beyond excited when I found out it was a series. The five little girls are so adorable. Their personalities are so unique and different, yet they get along so well. A must must read for pretty much anyone! Especially girls. 6 out of 5 stars! ;)
February 14, 2020
I love, LOVE this series! If you want something fun and engaging to read to your family, you'll certainly want to check these out. The children are all wonderfully enjoyable and they learn some valuable lessons along the way. You'll discover what New York City was like at the turn of the century and experience many Jewish costums too.
Ages: 5 - 12
Cleanliness:
Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities and Substitutions - 1 Incident: heck
Name Calling - 2 Incidents: slowpoke, foolish
Religious Profanity - 2 Incidents: gosh
Attitudes/Disobedience - 5 Incidents: Bad attitude/getting out of school: "All right, then. I'll have a swell excuse when the teacher asks me why I haven't finished my homework. I'll say my mother took up all my time with dusting." Anger/Unforgiving: Two friends are always fighting. The one girl says she's not going to be glad about their friendship ever again. When her sister says she'll have to forgive at Yom Kippur, the little girl says that's a long ways off. Bad attitude while obeying: "Henny pouted. She stamped her feet" while she did the dishes. A little girl doesn't want to eat her food: "I'll choke on it if I eat it, ... I don't want it. I don't want it!" Her voice rose higher and she got stubborn about not eating it. Jealousy: The youngest girl is upset when her mother has a baby because she's not the "baby" any longer.
Romance Related - 11 Incidents: A twelve-year-old girl has a crush on a mid-twenties man who works at her father's shop: "The children adored Charlie too, especially Ella, who lately had begun to gaze at him with bright and shiny eyes and hang upon his every word." Ella thinks how wonderful Sabbath would be if Charlie were there too and asks her mom if he's coming. A little girl's underwear peeked out from her skirt. Charlie takes Ella's hands and tells her she has a fine singing voice. "Ella blushed furiously and her heart pounded. Charlie was holding her hands. Charlie was saying something wonderful about her." Ella wants to fix her hair again before Charlie comes. "Charlie quarreled with his parents about a girl he wanted to marry. They wanted him to marry another girl. Charlie's girl learned that his parents opposed their marriage, and she just went away." ... Charlie was very angry at his parents and left home, left his career, old friends, and changed his name. Ella cried when she found out about her "idol Charlie's having a sweetheart." Ella cries in bed: "tears for Charlie's unhappiness, tears for herself, for now she knew that Charlie was not really her Charlie. His heart belonged to somebody else." "Ella sat quietly thinking about Charlie. After the first shock of discovering about his sweetheart, Ella's thoughts had been captivated with the romance, imagining various happy endings to the affair." "For a fleeting moment, Ella felt again the pain of that night when Papa had first told her about Charlie." A man puts his hands around a lady's face and kisses her.
Conversation Topics - 7 Incidents: Men sit around chewing tobacco. Mama grabs red wine for them to drink during the Sabbath meal. Papa and everyone drinks wine for the Sabbath. Snuff: "It was a mingled smell of tabac, a snuff used freely by the older members of the congregation. The family drinks wine for the first Seder night. The family drinks wine for the first Seder night. "Charlie quarreled with his parents about a girl he wanted to marry. They wanted him to marry another girl. Charlie's girl learned that his parents opposed their marriage, and she just went away." ... Charlie was very angry at his parents and left home, left his career, old friends, and changed his name.
Parent Takeaway
A sweet story about a loving family and how the father and mother purposefully run their home. The narration includes comments in the style of, "Henny knew she was being naughty and felt bad afterwards." There is always conclusions to wrong behaviors. The "crush" that the oldest daughter has, even has a conclusion with her parents talking over the issue with her (indirectly). The boy/girl mentions are not fantasized or lengthy.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
Ages: 5 - 12
Cleanliness:
Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities and Substitutions - 1 Incident: heck
Name Calling - 2 Incidents: slowpoke, foolish
Religious Profanity - 2 Incidents: gosh
Attitudes/Disobedience - 5 Incidents: Bad attitude/getting out of school: "All right, then. I'll have a swell excuse when the teacher asks me why I haven't finished my homework. I'll say my mother took up all my time with dusting." Anger/Unforgiving: Two friends are always fighting. The one girl says she's not going to be glad about their friendship ever again. When her sister says she'll have to forgive at Yom Kippur, the little girl says that's a long ways off. Bad attitude while obeying: "Henny pouted. She stamped her feet" while she did the dishes. A little girl doesn't want to eat her food: "I'll choke on it if I eat it, ... I don't want it. I don't want it!" Her voice rose higher and she got stubborn about not eating it. Jealousy: The youngest girl is upset when her mother has a baby because she's not the "baby" any longer.
Romance Related - 11 Incidents: A twelve-year-old girl has a crush on a mid-twenties man who works at her father's shop: "The children adored Charlie too, especially Ella, who lately had begun to gaze at him with bright and shiny eyes and hang upon his every word." Ella thinks how wonderful Sabbath would be if Charlie were there too and asks her mom if he's coming. A little girl's underwear peeked out from her skirt. Charlie takes Ella's hands and tells her she has a fine singing voice. "Ella blushed furiously and her heart pounded. Charlie was holding her hands. Charlie was saying something wonderful about her." Ella wants to fix her hair again before Charlie comes. "Charlie quarreled with his parents about a girl he wanted to marry. They wanted him to marry another girl. Charlie's girl learned that his parents opposed their marriage, and she just went away." ... Charlie was very angry at his parents and left home, left his career, old friends, and changed his name. Ella cried when she found out about her "idol Charlie's having a sweetheart." Ella cries in bed: "tears for Charlie's unhappiness, tears for herself, for now she knew that Charlie was not really her Charlie. His heart belonged to somebody else." "Ella sat quietly thinking about Charlie. After the first shock of discovering about his sweetheart, Ella's thoughts had been captivated with the romance, imagining various happy endings to the affair." "For a fleeting moment, Ella felt again the pain of that night when Papa had first told her about Charlie." A man puts his hands around a lady's face and kisses her.
Conversation Topics - 7 Incidents: Men sit around chewing tobacco. Mama grabs red wine for them to drink during the Sabbath meal. Papa and everyone drinks wine for the Sabbath. Snuff: "It was a mingled smell of tabac, a snuff used freely by the older members of the congregation. The family drinks wine for the first Seder night. The family drinks wine for the first Seder night. "Charlie quarreled with his parents about a girl he wanted to marry. They wanted him to marry another girl. Charlie's girl learned that his parents opposed their marriage, and she just went away." ... Charlie was very angry at his parents and left home, left his career, old friends, and changed his name.
Parent Takeaway
A sweet story about a loving family and how the father and mother purposefully run their home. The narration includes comments in the style of, "Henny knew she was being naughty and felt bad afterwards." There is always conclusions to wrong behaviors. The "crush" that the oldest daughter has, even has a conclusion with her parents talking over the issue with her (indirectly). The boy/girl mentions are not fantasized or lengthy.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
May 1, 2019
Will always love these books.
March 10, 2023
The cutest! Loved the girls' unique personalities.
November 16, 2018
One of the great delights of my childhood, Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family books were some of my absolute favorites as a girl, and I have read and reread them countless times over the years. Unlike some readers, they didn't serve as my introduction to Judaism - my father sat on a number of ecumenical and interfaith councils, and my first experience of Jewish religious tradition was probably the Passover Seder we attended at the home of a rabbi friend of his, when I was very young - but they did give me a serious case of Purim envy. Honestly - what child wouldn't want to partake of a holiday in which you're allowed to dress up in costumes, encouraged to make noise, and given lots of treats? I have this vivid memory of accompanying my mother to the city on one of those "take your child to work" days, and passing a branch of the New York Public Library that had a copy of
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family
on display in the window. Having had, until that moment, no idea that there even was a fifth story about this marvelous family, I was simply beside myself with excitement (even then, the NYPL was a place of magic) and made my mother march in at once and check it out for me. Ah, what a day that was...
All of which is to say, I simply adore these books. They are a treasured artifact of my childhood, but they are also phenomenally good books, in as far as I am able to judge these things objectively. The story of a loving Jewish family living in New York City's Lower East Side in the early years of the 20th century, they chronicle both the everyday occurrences and the special occasions (whether religious or secular) that make up their world. This first one is so familiar to me, that I have only to look at the cover, and I can instantly call to mind the opening of the book, in which Ella, Henny, Charlotte and Gertie wait impatiently for slowpoke Sarah to get home, so they can all go to the library. As someone who went to the library every week as well, my childhood self entered immediately into this story of girls so like me, and yet also unlike me. I could probably list all the chapters from memory - the one with the button game (got to get those girls to dust properly!), the one with the candy and cracker-eating in bed, the Purim one (naturally), the one where everyone but Henny gets Scarlet Fever, the one at Coney Island, the one where Charlie and his long-lost lady love are reunited (sigh!) under the Sukkah - although I might not string them together in quite the correct order. Memorable, entertaining, heartwarming, informative - these stories have it all! Even the artwork, contributed here by illustrator Helen John, is dear to me.
Having now reread All-of-a-Kind Family for at least the hundredth time - I have decided to revisit the series, in order to read the newly published picture-book, All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah - I can confirm that it holds up as well as it ever has, and is every bit as superb as I remembered it to be. Recommended to anyone who enjoys well-written family stories, engaging historical fiction, fiction featuring Jewish children, vintage girls' books - in short, good reads, full stop!
All of which is to say, I simply adore these books. They are a treasured artifact of my childhood, but they are also phenomenally good books, in as far as I am able to judge these things objectively. The story of a loving Jewish family living in New York City's Lower East Side in the early years of the 20th century, they chronicle both the everyday occurrences and the special occasions (whether religious or secular) that make up their world. This first one is so familiar to me, that I have only to look at the cover, and I can instantly call to mind the opening of the book, in which Ella, Henny, Charlotte and Gertie wait impatiently for slowpoke Sarah to get home, so they can all go to the library. As someone who went to the library every week as well, my childhood self entered immediately into this story of girls so like me, and yet also unlike me. I could probably list all the chapters from memory - the one with the button game (got to get those girls to dust properly!), the one with the candy and cracker-eating in bed, the Purim one (naturally), the one where everyone but Henny gets Scarlet Fever, the one at Coney Island, the one where Charlie and his long-lost lady love are reunited (sigh!) under the Sukkah - although I might not string them together in quite the correct order. Memorable, entertaining, heartwarming, informative - these stories have it all! Even the artwork, contributed here by illustrator Helen John, is dear to me.
Having now reread All-of-a-Kind Family for at least the hundredth time - I have decided to revisit the series, in order to read the newly published picture-book, All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah - I can confirm that it holds up as well as it ever has, and is every bit as superb as I remembered it to be. Recommended to anyone who enjoys well-written family stories, engaging historical fiction, fiction featuring Jewish children, vintage girls' books - in short, good reads, full stop!
June 28, 2022
I just finished this book. What a nice ending. The climax surprised me and even brought tears to my eyes. Didn't see it coming! 🌻
The book is about a Jewish family consisting of mama, papa, and five stair-step daughters living in the Lower East Side around the turn of the last century. It both explains Jewishness to the larger population and normalizes it, true to the era in which it was written: the 1950s. The children in the story would have been older than my parents and would have been born from 80 to 90 years before my children.
Half of the book I'd read out loud to my recently turned six-years-old granddaughter, but I went on and finished in readiness for a book-group discussion next week. The book had consisted of episodes, and I really hadn't expected developments beyond that.
I may come back with more analysis after the book discussion. For now will just stay with the ending -- the happy ending. The interesting point for me now is that this book and the rest of its series are in public libraries here in Atlanta (even though I myself had never heard of it until recently). It remains in print, in a paperback version.
The book is about a Jewish family consisting of mama, papa, and five stair-step daughters living in the Lower East Side around the turn of the last century. It both explains Jewishness to the larger population and normalizes it, true to the era in which it was written: the 1950s. The children in the story would have been older than my parents and would have been born from 80 to 90 years before my children.
Half of the book I'd read out loud to my recently turned six-years-old granddaughter, but I went on and finished in readiness for a book-group discussion next week. The book had consisted of episodes, and I really hadn't expected developments beyond that.
I may come back with more analysis after the book discussion. For now will just stay with the ending -- the happy ending. The interesting point for me now is that this book and the rest of its series are in public libraries here in Atlanta (even though I myself had never heard of it until recently). It remains in print, in a paperback version.
April 15, 2021
Wonderful
I completely enjoyed this book by Cindy Taylor. “All the guy family“ takes us back to the early 1900s and gives us a very good glimpse as to what life was like back then.
In particular this family of five joyfully lives out their commitment to their Jewish faith. So besides being a just a good family-based story it’s also an introduction to Judaism that is very well-balanced garnished with lots of family love.
Enjoy this book and they recommend it to everyone.
I completely enjoyed this book by Cindy Taylor. “All the guy family“ takes us back to the early 1900s and gives us a very good glimpse as to what life was like back then.
In particular this family of five joyfully lives out their commitment to their Jewish faith. So besides being a just a good family-based story it’s also an introduction to Judaism that is very well-balanced garnished with lots of family love.
Enjoy this book and they recommend it to everyone.
May 11, 2021
I adored this book when I was young, and I still adore it as an adult. Furthermore, my kids loved it, including my 9 year old son, even though it's about a family of turn of the century Jewish little girls! He wants to continue with the series!
October 9, 2019
Charming, sweet, heartwarming and thoughtful! This entire series is a gem. The family is so sweet, so tight-knit. While the book is a pure pleasure to read simply because you will love the family so much, it's also interesting from a historical/social standpoint to read about early 1900s America and this Jewish family's experience. UPDATE 10/2019: Rereading this for the first time as a mother, and sharing it with my oldest (six-years-old) was a wonderful experience. My love for this story only deepens now that I can more fully appreciate Mama's perspective, and admire all the more her patience and ingenuity and the wisdom and love she gives to her girls. Moreover, it was a delight seeing my son engage with the story. While a few aspects were a bit beyond him (particularly the bits focusing on Ella and her crush on Charlie) he really engaged with some of the segments, such as the hidden penny housecleaning game (ah, Mama, you clever one!) and the children pooling their money to buy Papa a birthday present, and building the Succah. I cannot recommend this highly enough! If you have loved other books about loving families in bygone eras, don't miss it!
December 24, 2019
A delightful and incredibly sweet book about the daily life of a Jewish family growing up in New York city in the 1910s, based on the author's childhood. It's been a favorite since my own childhood, when I read it over and over, and I've always loved reading about the five sisters and their parents.
April 9, 2020
Updated 2020 - Everything I knew about quarantines, I learned from this book. I had forgotten that their quarantine and scarlet fever coincided with Passover, so it was particularly appropriate to re-read this Quarantined Pascha and Passover season.
These books are always worth a re-read.
These books are always worth a re-read.
November 30, 2017
All-of-a-kind family is a set of short stories, oh, and it is so very dated. My daughter actually loved it much more than I did. Maybe I am way too used to having a point when telling stories, and this one was much of the day-to-day of a Jewish family. From taking books from the library, getting sick or cleaning the house, most stories are fine, but that is it. Each chapter is its own, telling about a different situation and finished without having much of a storyline.
It is overall cute, girls that are saving money (and the prices are funny), getting stuff for papa's birthday, or playing in Purim. The relationships between the five girls are interesting.
I do not think that anybody would publish such a book today, with a simple story about a soup tantrum, or cleaning the house. But I guess it is part of the magic, how old and dated it is. 3 stars.
It is overall cute, girls that are saving money (and the prices are funny), getting stuff for papa's birthday, or playing in Purim. The relationships between the five girls are interesting.
I do not think that anybody would publish such a book today, with a simple story about a soup tantrum, or cleaning the house. But I guess it is part of the magic, how old and dated it is. 3 stars.
December 13, 2008
All-of-a-Kind Family is another book I would have loved when I was younger - such a nice, wholesome story. I probably would have had to rush right out and find all of the All-of-a-Kind books. I still enjoyed the book very much reading it for the first time as an adult, and wouldn't mind reading more of them sometime. I really liked that although the family was poor, they were very happy and their lack of "things" wasn't a huge issue for them like it is in some stories. I also really enjoyed reading about the celebration of several Jewish holidays, with some details (especially surrounding Succos) that I had never known before. And I especially liked the library lady who kept making an appearance!
April 5, 2009
Hurrah! A Jewish tenement family in turn-of-the-century LES New York. My Mom can distinctly remember being in fourth grade, in her little bedroom in their trailer in Kentucky, reading this book while her Dad called her to come to dinner. If only for that, I would love this book, but it turns out the book is TOTALLY charming.
January 2, 2018
Mini review.
I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read this when I was small and been less aware of the slightly stilted dialogue and characterization – but nevertheless, a sweet little book and fascinating look into the daily lives of Jewish family around the turn of the century. Definitely a book that I would share with young readers!
I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read this when I was small and been less aware of the slightly stilted dialogue and characterization – but nevertheless, a sweet little book and fascinating look into the daily lives of Jewish family around the turn of the century. Definitely a book that I would share with young readers!
August 11, 2021
Delightful! I think I read it when I was a kid, but I don't remember it well. It's a very quick read, so it could be that I just gulped it down, as I have always tended to do, and then was off to the next book. But now I am sure I have a greater appreciation for this ground-breaking children's novel.
The story (which, according to the back cover, is set in 1912; I don't remember where that was stated in the book) focuses on the five sisters, Ella, Henrietta (Henny), Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie, who are 12, 10, 8, 6, and 3 (or 4?). They are all girls, and at times dress in the same outfits; their family is Jewish, and they live on the East Side in NYC, an impoverished area with strong community connections, from the peddlers of all backgrounds (Polish, Italian, etc.) who congregate at Papa's junk store, to the various Tantes who the children know and (as on the Jewish holiday Purim) visit.
One thing I found admirable and even astounding at times was Sydney Taylor's ability to describe Jewish holidays (from Sabbath to Yom Kippur to Succot (most commonly called Sukkot these days , or the Feast of Booths) in ways that were interesting, accurate, and uncomplicated -- and, perhaps most importantly, presented Jewish holidays in ways that I believe Christian children could relate to and see that these children were very much like them, with some different specifics. We hear the story of Purim and see the children dress up in silly costumes and take "Purim baskets" to various people (a sort of Halloween/Easter mashup in a way). This was important in 1951 (when the book was first published) and it's still important.
Some aspects of the book are very dated -- as they should be -- and could provide really interesting discussions with children, such as the way that Papa longs for a son (Taylor writes about this with the unapologetic assumption that all five times Mama had babies he wished they were boys), which is very sweetly held in tension with his obvious delight in his five daughters); or the way, in a topic that is quite timely in 2021, the Board of Health imposed quarantines on families when anybody had scarlet fever, putting signs on the doors (maybe this book should be banned! Can you believe the way the government insisted on protecting everybody else in society and didn't give a gosh darn about the individual rights of the families???). Some of these aspects of 1912/1951 values and assumptions could make children a little uncomfortable, or at least curious, but that's what good literature does, right?
For adults who want to understand some Jewish holidays, or at least the festive ways they are celebrated by families, such as Purim or Sukkot, you could read those chapters and know a whole lot more than most people.
Now I'd like to read other books in the series, even though they didn't sound interesting to me until I read this one (the library initially pulled All-of-a-Kind Family on Hannukah when I requested the original story; surprisingly, the local library -- the largest of all of them -- doesn't have a copy of this initial book in the series): More of All-of-a-Kind Family, All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown, All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown, and Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family.
The story (which, according to the back cover, is set in 1912; I don't remember where that was stated in the book) focuses on the five sisters, Ella, Henrietta (Henny), Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie, who are 12, 10, 8, 6, and 3 (or 4?). They are all girls, and at times dress in the same outfits; their family is Jewish, and they live on the East Side in NYC, an impoverished area with strong community connections, from the peddlers of all backgrounds (Polish, Italian, etc.) who congregate at Papa's junk store, to the various Tantes who the children know and (as on the Jewish holiday Purim) visit.
One thing I found admirable and even astounding at times was Sydney Taylor's ability to describe Jewish holidays (from Sabbath to Yom Kippur to Succot (most commonly called Sukkot these days , or the Feast of Booths) in ways that were interesting, accurate, and uncomplicated -- and, perhaps most importantly, presented Jewish holidays in ways that I believe Christian children could relate to and see that these children were very much like them, with some different specifics. We hear the story of Purim and see the children dress up in silly costumes and take "Purim baskets" to various people (a sort of Halloween/Easter mashup in a way). This was important in 1951 (when the book was first published) and it's still important.
Some aspects of the book are very dated -- as they should be -- and could provide really interesting discussions with children, such as the way that Papa longs for a son (Taylor writes about this with the unapologetic assumption that all five times Mama had babies he wished they were boys), which is very sweetly held in tension with his obvious delight in his five daughters); or the way, in a topic that is quite timely in 2021, the Board of Health imposed quarantines on families when anybody had scarlet fever, putting signs on the doors (maybe this book should be banned! Can you believe the way the government insisted on protecting everybody else in society and didn't give a gosh darn about the individual rights of the families???). Some of these aspects of 1912/1951 values and assumptions could make children a little uncomfortable, or at least curious, but that's what good literature does, right?
For adults who want to understand some Jewish holidays, or at least the festive ways they are celebrated by families, such as Purim or Sukkot, you could read those chapters and know a whole lot more than most people.
Now I'd like to read other books in the series, even though they didn't sound interesting to me until I read this one (the library initially pulled All-of-a-Kind Family on Hannukah when I requested the original story; surprisingly, the local library -- the largest of all of them -- doesn't have a copy of this initial book in the series): More of All-of-a-Kind Family, All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown, All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown, and Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family.
July 14, 2019
I loved the ALL-OF-A-KIND-FAMILY books when I was a child. Sydney Taylor’s series begins with five sisters, two years apart and their weekly library trip and ends with a surprise.
ALL-OF-A-KIND-FAMILY takes place on 1912. Written decades ago, as expected, I cringed a few times at the dated ideas like human circus “freaks” although mostly the values of family, responsibility and love hold up to modern scrutiny.
Stories of Jewish families were rare when Taylor first penned her books, but the family could have been any race or religion, even ambiguous for the universality of the story.
ALL-OF-A-KIND-FAMILY is a winner.
ALL-OF-A-KIND-FAMILY takes place on 1912. Written decades ago, as expected, I cringed a few times at the dated ideas like human circus “freaks” although mostly the values of family, responsibility and love hold up to modern scrutiny.
Stories of Jewish families were rare when Taylor first penned her books, but the family could have been any race or religion, even ambiguous for the universality of the story.
ALL-OF-A-KIND-FAMILY is a winner.
February 25, 2021
Very sweet. I appreciated that the first story involved a child having to take responsibility and suffer the consequences of her actions straight up. Others were kind to her and helped bear some of the burden, but she wasn't completely rescued or shielded...or crushed and berated, for that matter.
Reader was very good.
Reader was very good.
April 17, 2017
What a fabulous book! How many girls like me learned about Judaism from these books? I think it is still a great choice to read aloud or give to girls from 6 to 10. Here is a link to my review:
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/201...
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/201...
August 9, 2023
I was mainly reading All-of-a-Kind Family to proof for a possible school library book. What a lovely story about a Jewish family in New York City. Although the intended audience is 8-12 years, I am planning to use it as a read aloud to my first graders. ❤️
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