Hey! In case you haven’t heard there is a synod going on right now. Officially, it’s called “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” Most folks are just calling it the “Synod on the Family.” On Saturday, October 5, 2014, the Pope – who is Catholic by the way – reminds us that “care for the family is also a

‘way of working in the Vineyard of the Lord, because it produces fruits for the Kingdom of God.'”

So let’s talk about families!

I love it when the kids and I read a good story about a family.  Especially happy families. They really do make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Here are my favorite fictional families

The Peters family in Seven Silly Eaters, by Mary Ann Hoberman, is a perfectly realistic family. That is, they are a happy, disheveled bunch. Poor Mrs. Peter’s, trying too hard to feed each of her kids in exactly the way they are accustomed to. Until it’s Mrs. Peters birthday, and the kids decide to do something for her. Just. Let’s not look at the kitchen afterwards. This is a picture book we love to laugh to.

Then there is The Moffat’s by Eleanor Estes. This is that zany crew of four kids being raised by a single mother.  Lot’s of love here, too. The kids look out for each other – and their mama – while thoroughly enjoying the finer points of childhood. You know, like riding a train and plotting to save your beloved home from a looming sale. My only concern is that one of my boys will develop a penchant for collecting discarded human teeth – shark’s teeth are bad enough! Upper elementary students should have no problem reading this mid-level chapter book.

In Utah, at the turn of the century, the Moody family found themselves on the “ranch” that Mr. Moody had purchased – sight unseen – while the family still lived in New Hampshire. Ralph Moody tells his story in Little Britches (there are more books to the series, too). So the family must pull together – as all families need to – to make it through the first few years on said “ranch.” There is cattle herding, and cowboying, and ditch digging to be done. And in the interim, the boy learns what it means to be a man. Read this with a tissue.

Of course there are more: Little House, The Saturday’s, The All of a Kind Family…but I think the above are some of my favorites. What about you? What are your favorite fictional families?