Thoughts:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. As a disabled individual who is still getting my head around pacing and needing support it’s great to see a representation like this to help children, especially having a dynamic disability
(some days walker or rollator, others different aides or even none at all) as I had never heard of such a thing until I became dynamically disabled myself. I can also understand and relate to the mood swings as being different to your peers and unable to keep up can be very frustrating and it’s only natural for it to get to someone so young. It was great to see her loved and accepted regardless and I think the book has a great homey and loving feel having drawing style illustrations rather than cartoons.


Favourite Quote:
“Those little things that seem so easy, for us are not so lemon squeezy. But no matter what you do, we're family - and we're proud of you.”

An affirmation for all children that they can be a much-beloved part of a family, focusing on one with more issues than she's had hot dinners – she uses a walking frame, she has mood swings, she suffers changes to plans and locales badly, she stresses from seemingly other things, and also appears to be dyslexic. Heck, she probably now hates me for calling her a "she". This piling on just seems – to me at least – to be OTT, even if it is designed to enhance and not countermand the message, that EVERYone is a precious family member. Seeing this from some kind of user where these issues are everyday and commonplace, I can see how this is a five star achievement – nay, why stop at just five? But for me as an outsider looking in it's a four – if the girl had a couple of issues only and we were asked to relate and extrapolate, we should see the benefit of these pages just as much.

As I read this, so many children in my schools came to mind that would benefit from hearing a story such as this!

This book does a wonderful job of showing that everyday life is not plain sailing, and everyone has their own abilities and struggles, however as a family we support each other on all the different types of days that we have. The illustrations are fantastic too and really present the message of the story well.

A book I’d be grateful to have in my support toolkit as a Family Support Advisor based in a school.

This is a lovely picture book about what it is to be a family and to love and care for other people, even when things are tough. The book acknowledges that all people have different abilities and that something one person finds easy may not be the same for someone else. More importantly, it recognises that this isn't a problem or something to be fixed, we just are all different and it's accepting each other for whoever we are that matters.
The illustrations are also lovely and humorous, without trivialising the subject. This is a really lovely book and one that I will be recommending to our SENDCO at school.