For the study of family, relationships in it, and in particular, the role and status of children, and to track changes in the mode of representation of children and families in the literature, over time, there is no better starting point than the children's novel. The aim was to follow the family image specifically changes in it's narrative structure of certain literary works, describe family relationships which we find in literary works of theearly 20th century and point to changes that family image experiences over time, that is, in contemporary children's literature. There are two fundamental concept of work – the traditional and the modern family. Traditional patriarchal familie simply authority, usually male, while contemporary families are turning more to liberal way of life in which the family, or parent alauthority, is significantly mitigated. The work is based on theoretical as sumptions of Milan Crnković, Stjepan Hranjec, Dubravka Težak, Sanja Vrcić-Mataija and Dubravka Zima. Novels that have been analyzed in the work are presented chronologically in the narrative time.