My Family Tree and Me

Starting from the beginning or end of this picture book, readers trace a boy’s paternal and maternal lineages while making their way to its center, where his large multi-ethnic family appears in all its glory. The opening pages follow “my father’s side,” beginning with the boy’s great-great-grandparents, pictured near a 1920s automobile. The same image reappears as a photograph on the following page, along with the next generation; the boy’s great-grandfather wears a green military uniform, and later descendants share both men’s red hair. Meanwhile, readers can follow the boy’s Chinese matrilineal heritage by flipping forward from the back of the book; both sets of images and narratives mirror each other, highlighting the similarities and differences between the two sides of the family (the boy’s maternal great-grandfather also wears a military uniform, with a red star on the hat). Petricic’s goofy pencil-and-watercolor caricatures keep these portraits from feeling overly serious, and the family eventually grows to include eight cousins, a gay uncle and his partner, and more. It’s a strong, warm visual representation of all that goes in to making a family. Ages 3–7. [em](Apr.) [/em]