The great big book of families

What is a family? Once, it was said to be a father, mother, boy, girl, cat and dog living in a house with a garden.

But as times have changed, families have changed too, and now there are almost as many kinds of families as colours of the rainbow - from a mum and dad or single parent to two mums or two dads, from a mixed-race family to children with different mums and dads, from families with a disabled member to those with a mum or dad in prison.

Mary Hoffman takes a look through children's eyes at the wide varieties of family life: from homes, food, ways of celebrating, schools and holidays to getting around, jobs and housework, from extended families, languages and hobbies to pets and family trees - and she concludes that, for most people, their own family is the best one of all!

With Ros Asquith's delightful pictures, this book takes a fresh, optimistic look at families of today.