Funcles - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

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4 min read

Starting with the very familiar classroom assignment of creating one's family tree, this stunning and touching picture book explores the cultural tradition of showing respect to unrelated older men throughout the community who care and connect with us by addressing them as 'Uncle.'

Book cover - an apartment with three stacked color levels, the top green one has a boy looking down from a balcony and an older gentleman in the apartment. In the middle pink one, a man looks out a window on the left and a man stands in a doorway on the right. In the bottome orange one a woman makes dinner inside on the left and a man stands on the balcony with a cat.

Funcles

Author: Yashika Mody

Illustrator: Adriena Fong

Publisher: Lantana Publishing

Ages: 5-9

Fiction

Themes:

Family, community, culture, and humor.

Synopsis:

When a classroom assignment asks for a family tree, one child knows he'll need more than just one sheet as he has a gazillion uncles!

There's Bus Uncle, Supermarket Uncle, Taxi Uncle, and even Food Hall Uncle. Everywhere he goes, there's someone looking out for him. But when Ma and Pa see his growing tree, they gently explain that none of his uncles are “real” relatives. In their culture, calling someone "Uncle" is a sign of respect, a way of recognizing community, care, and connection.

Embarrassed at first, the boy quickly realizes something even better: these aren't fake uncles . . . they're FUNcles! And they mean the world to him. Funcles is a warm, funny, and heartfelt story about the many shapes family can take. A celebration of cultural traditions, community bonds, and the everyday heroes in a child's world, this is a story about love that lives in shared moments, not just in family trees.

Opening Lines:

We are learning all about family at school. Mrs. Forrest hands me a

family tree worksheet.

“I’ll need more than one,” I say.

“Do you have a big family?” asks Mrs. Forrest.

“HUGE,” I reply. “I have loads of aunties and a gazillion uncles.”

“A gazillion uncles?” she laughs.

I’m not kidding… I really do have a gazillion uncles.

What I LOVED about this book:

Starting with a delightful spread set in an elementary classroom, I love the child's excitement in relaying that he has "a GAZILLION uncles" and would need lots of paper. Because the child's smiling response to the teacher's laugh, is "I'm not kidding....," it feels more like a joking moment between them, than a judgement by the teacher.

Internal spread - on the left, a teacher sits on a rug, facing a circle of five kids, holding a family tree diagram. On the right, the teacher, holding a worksheet, smiles and sits at a table with a boy holding his arms outstretched to each side.

Text © Yashika Mody, 2026. Image © Adriena Fong, 2026.

As we wander through the boy's town, we discover that he has a Bus Uncle (who's got his back and waited when they ran late), a Supermarket Uncle (who lets him bag groceries), a Taxi Uncle, a Fried Rice Uncle and a Barber Shop Uncle. I love this Family Circus-esque meandering trail in Adriena Fong's lively illustration which creates a fun combination of the bright, colorful reality of the child's town and the wispy memory bubbles highlighting three special uncles. I also love that the classroom and town contain a diversity of ages and nationalities.

Internal spread - on the left, a boy wanders along a trail passing a playground and remembering a taxi ride. On the right, after passing a colorful set of buildings, the boy remembers the Uncle who gives him special fried rice and the one who cuts his hair.

As the child's family tree grows and grows, filling with more and more uncles, he moves his project to the family room wall. When his parents try to explain that "uncle" is actually a moniker, a term of respect, and they are not actually relations, his statement, “So all this time, I’ve had . . . fake uncles? I’ve had . . . FUNCLES?” beautifully captures the emotions of disbelief, frustration, and perhaps loss (as he sits beneath a dismantled chart clutching his stuffed lion).

When he discovers that the "F" he scribbled on the sign for his "fake uncles" actually spells "FUN-uncles" or "Funcles," it's a light-hearted, touching moment of insight for the whole family as they all realize that “Our community is a family, too!” full of people who "love and take care [for him], just like a real family." While his parents may have been following this tradition for so long they no longer question it, when their son reacts so strongly, it causes the whole family to examine what the tradition means and the community it creates.

Internal spread - on the left, the father points to the child's sign hung on the wall. On the right, kneeling beside a small table, the mother hugs a a sad child.

The ending is fun and rewarding, setting us for a possible sequel. An author's note explains the Singapore tradition of community "aunts" and "uncles," continuing the tradition with her son, and similar traditions in the Philippines, Latin American, and Hawai’i. It is a wonderful and encouraging ode to communities and every special found family.

Resources:

do you have similar aunts and uncles? Or maybe friends that feel more like brothers and sisters? Who are the special people in your community that feel like family? Make your own family tree and add these found family members.

make a card, picture, or something special for your FUN-uncles and FUN-aunts for International Aunt and Uncle's day on July 26th.

pair this with A Family Like Ours by Frank Murphy and Alice Lee, illustrated by Kayla Harren and Sweater by Larissa Theule.

If you missed my interview with Yashika Mody on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.