One Day at a Time
For ages 3+
A reassuring and sensitive story about separation and finding happiness in the new normal.
By Rachel Ip, illustrated by Natelle Quek (Hachette, 2024)
Both these creators, Rachel Ip and Natelle Quek, have individually become mainstays of the Children’s picture book world, particularly for books which sensitively and masterfully focus on specific themes in a combination: divorce, dementia, or saving the planet. Together they emanate a passion for kindness, a celebration of nature, and a love of family and community. I’ve always got time for both of them whether their working together or with other creators.
With parental separation or divorce rates ever increasing, and perhaps a shift in the typical family unit formation towards more blended families, there is a need for more books on this topic than ever before and although there are a couple of great ones out there already, it’s vital that there are enough of with top quality text and illustration that feature children across all heritage groups and family combinations that each child is able to see themselves represented.
Author, Rachel Ip, was born in the UK, but now lives in Hong Kong. Natelle Quek is a Malaysian-born illustrator who always draws her Children’s picture book characters with East and South East Asian features, and made her name first with the groundbreaking magical character illustrations inspired by Natelle’s Chinese-Malaysian heritage of ‘The Little Mermaid’ written by Anna Kemp (Puffin, 2021).
‘One Day at a Time’ takes readers from when siblings, Poppy and Robin are so deliriously happy in their family life, spending time with their mummy and daddy (Mum has white skin and Dad has brown skin), having endless fun and adventures - through to them learning of their parents separating to live in different homes - and then at the end of the story, the acceptance and new beginnings as a family together in their new way of life.
Both children take the news badly at first, terribly upset, and there are plenty of hugs and love from Mum and Dad. The story tactfully include how the children navigate life at school, how they cope with the changes taking place around their friends - one child is closed off, whereas the other is very expressive about what’s happening at home.
Gradually, the children realise that they are going to OK. They might be spending time with Mum and Dad separately, but they’re very much still doing all the things they love to do and have always done together. Every Spring, the family have always sowed sunflowers together, but this time they sow hundreds or even thousands, and they manage to grow enough for both their parent’s new gardens - something familiar and nostalgic of happy times past and those to come.
This is a story that glows with hope and joy, a story that is optimistic when parental relationships fall apart, and children need all the love and support they can get in order to transition to the new normal. Of course, not all parents separate amicably, so you wouldn’t want to read this with a child in such a situation, but for building empathy and understanding, and for the relevant family that this story represents a true current situation, it’s absolutely ideal. Growth mindset in practice.
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It's what sunflowers do." - Helen Keller
Ad - paperback review copy gifted by the illustrator
“Thank you so much...for such a lovely review...! I love that quote from Helen Keller too.”
