All-of-a-Kind Family Books

The page lists Sydney Taylor's five novels in publication order. That order works well, but families who want the smoothest story chronology can read All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown immediately after the first book; although published in 1972, the publisher says it picks up where the original ended. Then continue with More All-of-a-Kind Family, Uptown, and Ella.

All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah is a later picture-book companion by Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky. It revisits the family for younger readers and is not a sixth Sydney Taylor novel.

Sources: Penguin Random House's five-title classic series, Publisher guidance for Downtown's story placement, Publisher page for the Hanukkah companion.

These episodic family stories portray Jewish holidays, faith, immigrant life, crowded neighborhoods, school, chores, money worries, and sibling disagreements with warmth and humor. Historical references include poverty, illness, World War I, and period expectations for girls and family roles.

Some language and attitudes reflect books first published from the 1950s through the 1970s. Families may want to discuss how the setting and the era in which Taylor wrote shape the portrayal of culture, gender, and community.