“It started with a seed, and that seed was me. And, over time, laughter filled my garden...”

These two beautiful sentences were taken from the heart-warming story Family Tree by Josh Pyke and Ronojoy Ghosh, which we thoroughly enjoyed reading this week. This picture book, described as a heartfelt celebration of family, community and seasons of life, brought joy to our girls and millions of other children during the National Simultaneous Storytime.

The purpose of this special storytime was for educators and children all over the country to read the same story at 11.00am on the same day—Wednesday 25 May—which we did. Our participation is important to us, especially as this storytime aims to get children excited about reading.

Additionally, this story will be enjoyed repeatedly (as all good books are) as it links beautifully to our current learning about families. The Annie girls have loved sharing their family trees with the class. As Selena Abayaratna (Annies) said, “These are all the people who love me”—a sentence so special that it has stayed with me. We never underestimate the importance of family in our ELC, and this is especially reflected in the beautiful family photos lining the shelves.

Moving on from this week and into Reconciliation Week, we look forward to taking this learning further by considering an Indigenous perspective on the concept of family. Once again, a picture book, Family, written by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson will launch us into this learning. This book is described (by Booktopia) as a remarkably simple story that teaches us how family can be many different things.

What does family mean to you?