Helping children explore the diversity of families

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Fiona Alston

Sep 19, 2025

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A new children’s book, Guess How I Was Born, is offering early childhood educators and families a resource to support age-appropriate conversations about the diversity of families in Australia.

Written by child development specialist and children’s author Susanne Gervay, the picture book celebrates the many different ways children may come into the world, through the eyes of its main character, Violet Rose.

With themes of inclusion and belonging, the story highlights experiences such as IVF, surrogacy, adoption, LGBTQ+ families, solo parenting, step-parenting, and nuclear families.

Early childhood educators and librarians have already noted the value of the book as a classroom and home resource. In practice, it can be used to:

Promote inclusive discussions about family diversity during group times or story sessions.
Support social and emotional learning, by helping children build empathy and respect for different lived experiences.
Affirm children’s own identities, ensuring they see their family structures reflected positively in learning environments.

Such resources also support services in aligning with the National Quality Standard (NQS), particularly Quality Area 1 (Educational program and practice) and Quality Area 5 (Relationships with children).

Guess How I Was Born is aimed at children aged four to eight and has been published by Larrikin House. It may be particularly useful for centres looking to extend conversations during National Families Week or in everyday programming where belonging, identity, and family are explored.For more information, educators can refer to the publisher’s website or explore availability through Simon & Schuster AU.

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