kids

This is the feel-good children's book of the year

 

Have you seen those include-your-kid-in-a-story type of books?

You type in the name of the child you’re giving the book to, and you get sent a personalised copy that includes your precious snowflake in the story.  Cute, right?

When Jessica Skogstad ordered one for her 2 year old niece, Quorra, it arrived with much anticipation. Except there was one small problem; it was a story all about Quorra and her dad on a farm.

Quorra doesn’t have a dad. She has two mums instead.

“It was just devastating. I had to throw it in the bin.” Jessica said.

A mad dash to the local shops for a last-minute gift saved the day.  But the English and media teacher still felt disappointed she couldn’t find a book to give her niece that reflected her family.

So, she thought she’d write it.

And Enid and Her Two Mums was born.

Listen to Jessica talk about the response to the book, here: 

What started as an e-book that her niece “loved”, quickly became a hard copy thanks to a crowdfunding campaign of other parents and supporters who realised the importance of the book.

“I have noticed with my niece – because she goes to family day care – she does ask ‘why does that boy have a dad?’ or ‘who’s my daddy?’ So she’s noticing other kids have a mum and a dad a lot of the time.”

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With the message being that it doesn’t matter what kind of family you have, but the most important thing is you have a family who loves you, Jessica says it’s aiding children in understanding different family units.

Enid and her two mums

The 28-year-old says that as a child, when her parents divorced, she and her sister felt different because they were the only children at the school with divorced parents. "Now, twenty years later it's so common to have single parents but that's just happened over time." she said.

Now as the mother of an 18-month old, she hopes the book will have a similar effect, teaching children there's no such thing as a 'normal' family.

"When we normalise everything and show that families can all be different, that's when it doesn't become an issue."

Listen to the full episode of This Glorious Mess featuring author and Aunty-extraordinaire Jessica Skogstad here:

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