The other night, my family gathered around and pulled out one of my childhood favorites for a read-aloud night: Sydney Taylor’s “All-of-a-Kind Family.” Set in the early 20th century, each chapter of “All-of-a-Kind Family” tells of the simple yet entertaining life of five little Jewish girls living with their parents in New York.
“I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story,” author C. S. Lewis once noted. I would agree—and extend that statement further to say that a good children’s story is one that teaches life lessons and provides applications to both children and adults. Such a definition would place “All-of-a-Kind Family” squarely in the “good” category, for I walked away with several intriguing life lessons on responsibility, sacrifice, and worthy role models from the first chapter alone….