Published: 22nd June 2015 
Publisher: Harper Collins
Illustrator: Claire Robertson
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
A celebration of families of every kind!
Meet Anna, Chiara, Henry, Izzy and Jack.
Their families might not look like your family, but that’s okay … they’re perfect, just the way they are!
Just the Way We Are is a wonderful book that demonstrates that every family is different and many different types of family exists. There’s diversity between the families and between the cultures and generations presented which was great to see. There’s representation for same sex parents, single parent families, divorced households, fostered and adopted families, and grandparents living in the same house kind of families.
Robertson backs this up with wonderfully diverse illustrations filled with colour. They are cartoonish but not over the top or comical, and help celebrate this cultural diversity ever further with her creations and helps celebrate what makes each family special.
The narration alternates between each child of the five separate families, telling readers about the activities they do with their family and a simple but clear explanation about the type of family they are a part of. The message repeated throughout is that each family is perfect just the way they are and each one is celebrated with happy moments and positive attitudes. The formatting is clear, each child is given a different coloured font for their story, and over a few pages tells the reader why their family is perfect just the way it is.
Shirvington has created a great story that helps celebrate the uniqueness of families, not only in their make up, but in the activities each family does together as well. I really loved this story because it is perfect to show that different families exist outside the reader’s own and each family is unique in their own special way.
You can purchase Just the Way We Are via the following
QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository
Dymocks | Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust
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