The story behind
the story.
About the Book
Families Are Perfectly Different was created from a simple belief: children should be able to see their families reflected in stories without feeling that their family is somehow less than another.
The book explores family diversity through the experiences of Luthando and Luvuyo, creating space for children to ask questions and for adults to respond with understanding rather than judgement or guilt.
It is a story about family, but it is also about belonging.
Why I Wrote This Book
I have known since I was a child that one day I would write a book. I never imagined that it would be fiction. I always knew that if I wrote a book, I wanted it to have a purpose, to say something that mattered, and in some way make a difference.
Families Are Perfectly Different was inspired by my own family dynamics and by the questions, conversations and realities that came with them. What began as something personal grew into a much bigger reflection on the many ways families are formed and experienced.
I wanted to create a story that tells children: your family may look different from someone else’s, but that does not make it less of a family. And I wanted to create something that gives adults an opportunity to think about the messages they pass on to children about family, difference, and belonging.
Because children learn from home, and homes are shaped by society, which in turn, is shaped by what children are taught. If we want a future that embraces diversity, we have to begin by helping children understand and appreciate difference now.
The future begins now.
It is a story about family,
but it is also about belonging.
This book is not only for parents.
Children live in communities surrounded by adults — teachers, grandparents, relatives, professionals, neighbours, friends and future parents. The way adults understand family differences influences the way children learn to understand themselves and one another.
This book invites all adults into the conversation. You do not need to have children of your own to benefit from understanding how children may experience family, difference, comparison, curiosity, and belonging.
Making space for
the hard questions.
Children’s questions about families can come from curiosity, comparison, longing or something they have noticed about their own lives. Those questions do not necessarily need complicated answers.
Sometimes children simply need an adult who is willing to listen, acknowledge what they are feeling, and reassure them that their family is valid.
Families Are Perfectly Different makes space for those conversations.
“This book makes space for curiosity and longing without making difference feel like something is missing.”
Ishshah Bashe.
Ishshah Bashe is the author of Families Are Perfectly Different. Her longstanding desire to work with children and help them feel heard and understood led her to create a story that opens conversations about family, belonging and the many ways families can look.
Since childhood Ishshah has always wanted to write a purposeful, non-fiction book and to work with children and help them feel heard.