All-of-a-Kind Family

If you are a Jewish woman of a certain age,  you probably read All-of-a-Kind Family as a young girl. I read probably the entire series by Sydney Taylor as a little girl going to Hebrew school. Each book (there are several in the series) are full of stories about five little Jewish girls on the Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century.

As a girl - or even now - it's rare to read stories about Jewish people doing things that Jewish people (meaning me and my family) might be doing, thinking, celebrating. To read about a family celebrating the Sabbath or observing Jewish holidays, well, that was ideal for a young girl. And sorry, brother, but my whole life I always wished I'd had a sister. Maybe these books are the reason why.

A few weeks ago, reading the news, I came across a story about a new TV miniseries based on this book series. I shared the link in Renee's Reading Club on Facebook and that started a dialogue amongst all those who loved reading the books as little girls or reading the books to our own little girls. Why did I never read these to my little girls? The conversations made me wonder if I'd enjoy reading the stories now as an adult old enough to be a grandmother! I remembered loving Little House on the Prairie as a kid but then finding it incredibly tedious as an adult. Or was I just remembering the TV series and not the books?

I found All-of-a-Kind Family in the library, borrowed it, figuring I'd read the book in a night or two since, after all, it is a children's book. After reading the first two chapters, I realized that rushing through it wasn't going to work so I started reading one chapter per night before I did my regular reading. That was probably the way it was read to me when I was younger. And it was the perfect way to consume this sweet, lovely book as an adult. Now I wish I had a little girl to share it with!