Zanni Louise (text) and Sasha Haddad (illustrator), This Is Family, Affirm Press, March 2025, 24 pp., RRP $22.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781923022294
This is the newest book from prolific author Zannie Louise and illustrator Sasha Haddad, and a follow-up to their successful book This is Love, published in 2024. Families come in all shapes, sizes and configurations, and this concept is explored in an appropriately child-friendly way, with succinct sentences. Mums and dads, grandparents, same-sex parents and single parents are all depicted alongside children, in a variety of different activities. Family may even be “a bunch of good friends”.
Some families are welcoming a new baby, one is skateboarding, another playing Twister together, and others are off to the vet with their pet. One family is separated by distance and is only reunited once a year. And of course, no family is perfect, so there is bound to be the odd disagreement!
All of the families represented share a common theme of love and togetherness. It is a reassuring and hopeful read about loving families, perfect for Early Childhood settings and early school years.
Reviewed by Bronwyn Joseph
