"The Graves Family" By: Patricia Polacco

The Graves Family is a goofy cute story about a very interesting family. This family lives in a house with giant spiders and an enormous venus fly trap. The house is painted blood red, and the inside is painted black. Despite the house's creepy appearance the Graves family is really nice! They have 5 kids, their oldest son, Heironymus, becomes friends with the neighbors, Seth and Sara. The three become great friends, and after a while of being friends Ronnie, short for Heironymus, brings his friends to his house. Although the house scared Seth and Sara, they still enjoyed being Ronnie's friend. Ronnie may have found people he fit in with, but his whole family hasn't been accepted by the town yet. It isn't until the Graves family wins a coveted prize that the town learns to accept the Graves family for who they are.
This story is very fun! I think the story's message is best explained through the author's dedication, "Those who march to a different drummer are in a magnificent band indeed!" This story has a great message about accepting people for who they are. It also encourages people to be themselves. The Graves family didn't try to be anything other than themselves, and although it took time, the towns people learned to love them for who they were.
Patricia Polacco's books always have fabulous illustrations! This book has great illustrations that make the Graves' creepy house come to life! The pages are filled with illustration, and even the ones that are filled with text have some border illustrations. I think this book would be a fun book to read as a class during Halloween time!