Real Sisters Pretend
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Massachusetts Must Read Title: 17th Annual Mass Book Awards
*CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book*
*CCBC Choices Selection*
This warm, engaging story, which unfolds entirely through the conversation of two adopted sisters, was inspired by the author's own daughters, whom she overheard talking about how adoption made them "real sisters" even though they have different birth parents and do not look alike.
"I liked how they took care of one another in their pretend-play scenario about climbing a mountain," Lambert says, "and I loved how they also took care of one another's feelings as they talked about adoption. REAL SISTERS PRETEND captures these interactions perfectly and movingly.
Told with simple words and playful illustrations, this book touches on the topics of adoption, two moms, and multiracial family life.
Modern families can look very different from the nuclear families of yesteryear, but as Lambert says in the book's introduction, "No matter how a family comes to be, the most important thing is for everyone to feel loved, safe, and cared for." REAL SISTERS PRETEND is a great vehicle for sharing that love and reassurance.
Fountas & Pinnell Level L
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tayja and Mia may enjoy pretending to be "hiking princesses" who must scale the mountains of the family sofa, but as older sister Tayja makes clear, there's nothing pretend about them being sisters, even though they don't look alike (Tayja has brown skin, Mia white). "We are sisters," she says, staring into Mia's eyes. "Real sisters." In an extended dialogue between the girls, Lambert (A Crow of His Own) highlights the small but important conversations that happen among siblings trying to understand their place in the world and within their families. Tadgell (Friends for Freedom) emphasizes the girls' closeness in warm watercolor-and-pencil vignettes that show them talking about being adopted by two mothers (one is white, the other of Asian background) while playing with their stuffed toy lion, having a snack, and generally hanging all over each other. The sisters also talk frankly about the fact that "some people" don't instinctively see them as a family, remembering a recent grocery store encounter. Though the story is somewhat message-heavy, it's still a useful reminder of the varied ways families can take shape. Ages 4 7.
