As much as I love unicorns and dragons and wizards, I have an equal love for the sort of book that make everyday life seem like an adventure. Several other books on my favorites list fall into this category, but today I will talk about All-of-a-Kind Family.

As an upper-middle-class Protestant kid growing up in the New Jersey suburbs in the 80s (without any sisters), I was utterly fascinated by the lives of the five (!) Jewish sisters growing up in the pre-WWI New York City. Some of my favorite scenes were: Charlotte and Gertie’s trip to buy a penny-worth of mixed broken crackers and just the right candy for secret night-time snacking. The visit to Papa’s junk shop to go through a treasure-trove of books. The trip to the beach. The shopping trip for the Sabbath (I really wanted to try some of Henny’s chickpeas!). The Purim celebration. Mama making dusting into a game by hiding buttons in the parlor. Most of all, I loved how vibrant and joyful the lives of the girls were, filled with community and family and celebrations. They are still on my shelf of comfort-reads, because sometimes you just want to read a book that makes you feel like everything is all right, and Mama and Papa will still love you even if you lose a library book or don’t finish your soup.

Other fans of this series might enjoy checking out this pdf, which I found out about via the folks at kidliterate. I had not realized that Sydney Taylor modeled the girls of the books so directly upon herself and her own sisters, right down to the names!

All-of-a-Kind Family is followed by More All-of-a-Kind Family, All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown and All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown . And how did I not know there was a fifth book all these years? I must read Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family at once!