Monday Is One Day

By Arthur A. Levine, Illustrated by Julian Hector

Billed as "A love note from working parents to their children," this book aimed at parents to read with their pre-schoolers is simple and sweet and celebrates so many kinds of families, including two dad families like mine!

The families with their kids count down the days until the weekend when they can be together, and we see in visual vignettes a single dad with a son, a single mom with a daughter, an African American man and woman couple with twins, an older couple (possibly grandparents) with a young boy, a two dad family with a son, and a man and woman couple with a daughter...

There's a great interview Julian (the illustrator) did with Amy Baskin over at the Euphoria blog where he explains how the decision to have the art be so representative of diverse families came about. How it started out just illustrations of a father and son, and how that changed. I love how he says, "For me, the book sprung to life when this decision was made."

And really, it is the diverse embrace of those many-hued and configured families that make this book shine.

I wish this picture book had been read to me when I was a little kid, and I'm so glad it's out there for today's kids to snuggle into the lap of their adult, and see how the love they feel really is universal.

Namaste,
Lee