LOGANBERRY LEGACY
Do you remember the story of children doing their cleaning chores and being rewarded with found pennies and buttons? If so, you aren't alone. This is the series of the charming Jewish family known as All-of-a-Kind. 

All-of-a-Kind Family BIBLIOGRAPHY
* designates a title still in print
* All-of-a-Kind Family.  Illustrated by Helen John.  Follett, 1951.
* More All-of-a-Kind Family.  Illustrated by Mary Stevens. Follet, 1954.
* All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown. Illustrated by Mary Stevens. Follett, 1958. 
* All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown. Illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. Follett, 1972.
* Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family. Illustrated by Meryl Rosner. Dutton, 1978. 
 

OTHER BIBLIOGRAPHY
Danny Loves a Holiday.  E.P. Dutton, 1980. 
The Dog Who Came to Dinner. Follett, 1966. 
The Emissary: A Story of a Divine Messenger. Esoteric Publishing, 1998.
Mr. Barney's Beard. Follett, 1961.
A Papa Like Everyone Else. Follett, 1966. 

I'd really like hardcovers but they're for my daughter so they don't have to be mint. Good reading copies are fine. Thank you.
Yea, yea, yea. You certainly are fast. This is exactly the condition I'm looking for. I've got a five-year old with a reading level of 5th-6th grade (at least...) but she still treats books like a five-year-old. I think she eats them!
Dear Harriett, I received the book yesterday and I am absolutely delighted with it! Thank you very much for sending me such a beautiful book. I have never been so pleased with a purchase, and I have bought about 500 books in the past five months for our children's library.

I remember reading a book that was about the late 1800's or early 1900's. Unfortunately I don't remember the name or author. The main characters were five little sisters. There was chapters about Jewish Holidays and how they were celebrated. They bought candy for pennys and actually could get a fourth-penny worth of four different kinds of candy to get a penny's worth of candy. Another chapter was a about cleaning a room properly. They had been dusting poorly and to teach the little girls how to do a good job their mother hid pennys in the front room if they dusted well they would find them. If you could find this book for me I would truly appreciate it.

I loved it (and its sequels) as a child, and I remember the chapter in which the mother hid pennies to make cleaning more fun for her daughters. 

I remember the book was about a poor Jewish family with 5 or 6 children. They lived on the east coast -- I think in New York City. I don't remember much, but I remember they were so poor that chick peas were a huge delicacy.  I think the book was written from the perspective of the children.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!  I'm twelve years old, a bit too mature for these books, but still, I find them endearing.  I'm also doing a project for school right now.  DOES ANYONE KNOW ANY WAY TO GET INFORMATION ON HER?  If so, please post it!

These books were based on Syd's life. I knew all of the sisters as a child and young adult. They all worked for many, many years at a camp in N.Y. Syd was my dance counselor.

Is this the series when, in one of the later books, Henny?, borrows a dress of her older sister, spills something on it and so dyes the whole dress in tea so that her sister does not know that she borrowed it?  I have been trying to remember more details about the books.

I read these books when I was in elementary school.  I loved them and every year at the book sale I would buy the next book.  My parents packed them away and I have not been able to find them.  I am so excited to have found this site because I have been looking for them for my daughter to read!  I loved reading about different families, the Little House series and this series were my absolute favorite as a young girl!!

This drives me crazy every time I see and other person say it. The girls  did not look for pennies when they dusted. Their family could never have afforded that many pennies every day. It was buttons. The mother went  through her sewing buttons, and picked out 12 of them to hide in the front room. The game of finding the hidden buttons during dusting was enough inincentive for them to do a good job dusting -- at least at first.... Then the mother started varying the number of buttons and sometimes not even hiding any. One week she actually DID hide one penny each day -- but that was a REAL treat. 

As far as I have been able to discover, the best bio info on Sydney Taylor is in an article in the Nov. 1998 issue of "Shofar."  "Shofar" was a magazine for Jewish youth which ceased publishing some years ago. However, you may find it in the collection of a Jewish library or be able to get a xeroxed copy on inter-library loan. Don't give up on finding the article as it may take time and effort. Although it is not an immediate remedy, I have been informed by a representative of the Taylor family that an authorized bio is in the works. The first book was published in the early 1950's, and the author died in 1978, according to my informants. The committee and I are delighted that you still love the books. Sincerely,  Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, Association of Jewish libraries 

I found out the following about Sydney Taylor-- 
Awards: Follett Award, 1951, and Jewish Book Council Award, 1952, both for All-of-a-Kind Family.  Junior Book Award Certificate from Boys' Club of America, 1962, for Mr. Barney's Beard. Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award established in 1978 by Association of Jewish Libraries and awarded posthumously to Taylor in 1979.
Personal Information: Family: Born 1904(?), in New York, NY died February 12, 1978, in New York, NY daughter of Ceceil (Marowitz) Brenner married Ralph Taylor (president of Caswell-Massey Co.), July 11, 1925 children: Joanne (Mrs. Stephen Marshall). Education: Studied dramatics, New York University attended Martha Graham Dance Studio, 1930-35. Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Dance, working with children, travel. Memberships: Authors League.
Career: Worked as an actress with Lenox Hill Players, a semi-professional theatre group, 1925-29; dancer with Martha Graham Dance Co., 1930-35; counsellor, Cejwin Camps, beginning 1942. Wrote, directed, and choreographed own plays.

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (1950s)?. The setting is Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1912. It's about an Orthodox Jewish tenement family of 5 daughters aged 12, 10, 8, 6, and 4 - the middle sister is apparently based on Taylor herself. I love the description of the pushcart-filled marketplace and the food, especially - as do the 30 or so reviewers at Amazon.com! There are at least 3 sequels to this book. While it's a lovely way to start younger readers on the subjects of Jewish traditions and the pre-WWI era in general, it's a little too plain to older readers just how antiseptic almost everything is in 1950s fashion - you could drop the whole family into Laura Ingalls Wilder's world or "Leave it to Beaver" and not notice any difference in their speech and mannerisms. I love it anyway.
This is All-of-Kind-Family by Sydney Taylor.  The children were five girls and they were a Jewish family living in New York.  In the last chapter the mother finally has a baby boy. There were actually four other books in the series; More All-of-a-Kind Family, All-of-a-Kind-Family Uptpwn, All-of-a-Kind-Family Downtown, and Ella of All-of-a-Kind-Family.
S54 This is definitely All-Of-A-Kind Family by Sidney Taylor. There are four girls in the first book and in the later books a little brother joins the family.  The books in the series are All-of-a-Kind Family,  More All-of-a-Kind Family,  All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown,  All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown, and Ella of All-Of-A-Kind-Family.
Beyond a doubt, this is All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.  The Jewish family of five girls and one baby brother are growing up in the lower East side of New York in the early 1900s.  All the girls look forward to their turn to dust the front parlor because of finding the pennies.  One whole chapter is devoted to buying penny candy.
The series about the "steps and stairs" family is Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family.
S54 most definitely refers to All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.  About 10 pages into the book, the library lady refers to the 5 girls as a  "steps-and-stairs" family.   This is a fabulous series &  some of them have recently come back into print (I think the other titles are More All-of-a-Kind Family, All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown, All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown, and Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family).
Sounds like All-of-a-Kind-Family by Sydney Taylor. Set in New York City at the turn of the century. Five girls (Ella, Sarah, Henny, Charlotte, and Gertie) and the youngest was a boy named Charlie.
Definitely had the house-cleaning with the hidden pennies, and the girls buying different-flavored crackers/cookies at the penny store. I love these books! (I think there are four in all)
I'm certain these are the All-Of-A-Kind Family books.  Can't remember the author but I think they're either still in print or not long out.  The children are part of a large Jewish family living in New York City early in the century, or maybe between the 2 World Wars.  I think there are 5 sisters, the only names that I can remember now are Henrietta, Sarah and Charlotte, and later they have a baby brother named Charlie.
The book referred to in S54 has to be All of A Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.  It is the first book in the All of A Kind Family series.  The books are about 5 sister's growing up in New York at the turn of the century.  In the first book, the libarian does refer the them as a step and stair family.  The is also a chapter in which they search for penny's while dusting the parlor.  I hope this helps.
 This is DEFINATELY All-of-a-Kind Familyby Sydney Taylor, one of my  (and my 13 yr. old daughter's) favorites!  There are several more in the series, so you're in for some reading delight. 
S54 - The book this person describes is The All-of-the-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.  (I think that's the author's name.)

These books had such a profound effect on me as a child. I read and re-read them over and over again. I've been trying to collect library copies in the past couple of years with small successes. It's wonderful to hear that there are others out there who love these books as much as I do!

Sydney Taylor, All-of-a-Kind Family.  I can't believe it!  I have wondered about these books for years!  I didn't remember the names of the books, or even the author, but I remembered reading -- and loving -- a series of books about a Jewish family living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the depression.  My babysitter lent them to me when I was a little girl and I loved them.  I am so excited...I plan to order all of them so that I can share them with my girls.  I am so happy that I searched the internet and found these books again!  Thank you so much.

Sydney Taylor, All-Of-A-Kind-Family. These books have been on my mind since I was a child, and I am 52 now!  Thank goodness for the computer, as one day I sat down and just put words up on Google...Jewish family, 1900s, Sydney, and children's books.  I could only remember the author's first name.  I found your web site!  Thanks for all the postings from people just like me who remember these books and loved them so much.