My debut picture book will be published with Scribble Kids Books, an imprint of Scribe Publications, in July 2018! Love Makes a Family is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Sophie Beer. It cursory depicts the wide range of families and what they may typically do on a daily basis. As today is Family Day (17 February), I thought it would be apropos to read this book. One of God’s greatest gifts for all of us is our family. Most of us won’t be where we are today without our beloved family supporting us! Full of unique multimedia illustrations, My Abuelita is a funny and endearing story about a boy who has great admiration for his grandmother and the work she does. This board book is a good way to introduce the little ones to diverse and inclusive families. And it helps in normalizing families that are different from yours. With fabulous illustrations, simple one liners & by adding diverse & inclusive families author/illustrator @sophiebeerdraws has created a book every family can add to their shelf.

Memories of friendships and relationships may fade away, but the love that you receive from your family is one that will never go away. You will always remember your family members, even long after they are gone. Make it a point to see your family as often as you can. If work is an issue, then see them on your off days, or at least be bothered to see them every week. What is family without a bit of love every now and then? Families like to spend time together. Different families have different rituals and traditions that they do together.

What We Love: This book highlights diverse families and kiddos, touching on gender identity and sexuality. Parents and caregivers show love for the children they’re raising in countless ways. I adored seeing so many different examples of what this can look like as people go about their ordinary daily routines. The author covered everything from comforting a child after they scraped their knee to baking a special cake for them on their birthday. The wholesomeness of it all shone out of every scene, and it was absolutely perfect for this age group. Love from family members is very different from what you will experience anywhere else, for a family’s love is unconditional and genuine. They will never expect anything in return from you. My notion about a perfect family while growing up always meant a family who looked like mine. Because that’s what I saw around me. As I ventured out more into the world , I saw many different sets of family and strangely enough they never seemed odd even when they were different from my family. You know why ? Our families are our guidance. In families, we find inspirations, motivations and strength to reach new heights and break the limits.

Things to Know: While the author of this book is a white woman, it is still a lovely story featuring POC characters. What We Love: This book beautifully smashes stereotypes around what makes a family “real.” It is also told from the perspective of children and expresses a voice of innocence and love. We also adore the whimsical illustrations that are similar to the style of Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline .I want to tell my family that I miss them, and I love them. The words may not come out, but each and every one of us knows that we love each other.

I literally know of no parents my own age or younger, who haven't - at the very least - done a shitton of self reflection and tried a different way, when they realized something they were doing (yelling, spanking, bribing, fawning, helicoptering, whatever) wasn't giving them the results - attentive kids, better communication, clean bedrooms, less spoiled brat behavior, etc - they were hoping for. What We Love: The unnamed niece in the story is living with her aunt and her uncle as she waits for her parents to migrate to the U.S. This provides an opening to discuss family separation with your little feminist(s). Your family should be the core of your life. Make time to see them every weekend and show them your love and affection. That’s what it means to truly love your family.

Unit Summary

Something else that might be harder for tiny humans to understand is "what things can I be curious about, and what things should be private", and that leads us straight into What Happened To You? As a disabled person, the number of times I have been asked invasive questions about my health, my disability status, my wheelchair, &/or other more embarrassing private things about my body in public is really too high to count. And each disabled person has their own comfort level about questions and what they are willing to share: For example, I don't care if your four year old asks me what's wrong with my legs, bc I was a preschool teacher, and I'm used to answering those kind of questions from tiny humans. I prefer it, actually, to the whisper-yelling you think you are subtle about (you are not) when you're kid asks you, and you drag them away from me, which I think teaches them to be afraid of people like me. But I don't answer invasive questions from adults, and I get a lot of those too. Also, that's just me: Other disabled adults AND CHILDREN get to decide their own comfort levels with both the question and the answers they give, and that is 100% the point of What Happened to You?