Owen's Family

Owen's Family is a 24-page leveled reader designed for PreK through Grade 1, and it does exactly what it sets out to do: introduce very young children to a family shaped by loss in gentle, honest language. Owen's mother died when he was young, and the book frames his life with his father and grandparents as something complete and full of love. Srimalie Bassani's illustrations are warm and vivid, and the classroom scaffolding — vocabulary list, glossary, comprehension activities — makes this a practical teaching tool. The honest caveat is that this is an educational reader first and a story second; narrative depth is minimal. Parents reading it with very young children should be ready for questions about death. It handles that territory with care.