All of a Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor

[rachelmanija]

This book was a favorite of mine when I was a kid, but I don't think I realized there were sequels.

It's about a Jewish family in New York in 1914 with five little girls two years apart. The oldest is twelve, and the youngest is four. It's a sweet, gentle book, filled with period atmosphere and kindness and relatable kid issues, from losing a library book to inexplicably refusing to eat soup you normally love. Upon re-reading, it had been visited by the opposite of the Suck Fairy - it was, if anything, even better than I remembered. The publication date is 1951 but it feels timeless. The illustrations are great too.

As a kid, I loved it for being that rare book about Jewish girls that was not about the Holocaust. Apart from being crushingly depressing, those books were not very relatable for an American Jewish girl in Los Angeles in the 70s-80s, especially since I didn't have Holocaust survivors in my family. But I completely related to being obsessed with books and dolls, getting lost in a crowd, being poor, and fighting and bonding with friends.

Recommended for literally anyone who wants something sweet, cozy, and domestic, without being saccharine. It's pure comfort reading, and I can't wait to get to the sequels. And if you know any little Jewish girls who haven't already read it, it would make a nice gift.

Thanks to Rosefox for reminding me to re-read this!

All-of-a-Kind Family (All-of-a-Kind Family Classics)

Comments

[conuly]

I accidentally stole this book from the Brooklyn Public Library as a child. See, they were so used to seeing me walk out of there with one of my books and not checking one of theirs out (we were constantly overdue, so we never did take new books out, just went there to read) that they didn't stop me. And I was used to doing it too, so I didn't stop me. Halfway home I realized what I had done, but my father refused to walk back and return it until the next schoolday.

[rachelmanija]

Very appropriate, given Sarah's lost library book trauma.

[conuly]

In ours, the librarians didn't even notice!

I have such a strong sense memory of that library's bathroom. It, uh, was rather pungent.