We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families

Todd Parr
Little, Brown Young Readers (2007)
ISBN 9780316016681
Reviewed by Conner Aguren (age 3) and Mom for Reader Views (12/07)

“We belong together because …
you needed a home
and I had one to share.
Now we are a family.”

Todd Parr, creator of “Todd’s World,” wrote and illustrated this book to show how all sorts of families have come together.

“I don’t like it [the book] very much. It’s got babies. I don’t like babies in books.”

“I like the picture of the guy on this page [photo of author on the book jacket].”

“What do you think about adopting children?”
“Who adopted me?”
“Conner, you weren’t adopted, but your mommy was and so were our dogs.”

“I don’t like this book because it doesn’t have any fighter jets.”

“I like my other books because they got more pages.”

“Do you like the pictures?”
“No, there is no black.”
“That’s not true; the images are all outlined in black.”
“Why are they all outlined in black? What is outlined?”

“I like this book because it’s big.”

Parent’s Comment:
Todd Parr is known for his use of vibrant colors in his drawings. While that makes the book very enticing to open, my son was a little distracted by so many intense colors and wondered why some people’s heads were blue and others green.  Also, even though it has a note from the author at the beginning of “We Belong Together” that the reader can feel free to change the pronouns to fit their family, the reader can’t change the picture images of some family combinations that they may not agree with. 

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