'Raf and the Robots' is now ready for purchase! Please click the "REWARD" button to the right to order your copy now.

Thank you so much to everyone who got behind this project and funded it into existence. I just can't contain my excitement! :D


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A children's book for families that don't fit the mainstream. Preorder your hardcover copy now!

We are doing a one-time-only hardcover print run of our book "Raf and the Robots". Pre-ordering will ensure you get a copy from the first print run. All subsequent print runs will be softcover.

We've met our target so that means this book is really going to be made! :D

What you may not know is that there are many wonderful things we could do with any money we receive beyond our target amount.

- We could get a graphic designer to do some cool things with the text in the book.
- We could have the books saddle-stitched to make the book much sturdier (this is done by hand and so is more pricey).
- We could use heavier paper which is friendlier for tiny hands and which won't tear as easily.

Your pledge/preorder can help us achieve this!
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Hi, I'm Sarah, creator of Stories for Unique Families.

As a school teacher and mother of little Eliska, I see a lot of children's books.

My own family is a little non-traditional, and standing amongst all the shelves of books about stereotypical family models, I found myself wondering:

WHERE IS THE BOOK THAT ELISKA CAN READ ABOUT A FAMILY LIKE HERS?

I then started thinking about all the children whose families are a little different, and wondered how they must feel.

Over and over again, in children's books, the same family type - not theirs.

How many examples are there? My friend's daughter came home from childcare one day crying after a "paint your family" activity because her painting was like nothing she saw depicted around her - there is no dad in her family, yet she has a wonderful supportive and stable family that she's been with from birth.

And what about the children of my gay and poly friends? What about families with step-parents that actually get along? What about families with a surrogate or a donor? Where are the books for the single mums share-housing together? Or families with a transgender parent or child?

I REALISED I'D JUST HAVE TO WRITE ONE.
(Actually more than one, but let's just start with one for now.)

This book is based on my family but I don't want to influence how you read it by talking too much about that. My hope is that different families will read it in ways that are meaningful to them.

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YOUR PLEDGE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

This is a little - but important - book for those of us left out by the mainstream. We need to pay back the loan for the illustrator; we hope we can afford to get the book designed by a graphic designer; and of course we need to print it, amongst other costs.

Your pledge will help make this happen. You can make this book real, and put it in the hands of kids (and adults) who can finally see a family like theirs in print. Oh, and the rewards you'll get are pretty good too!

And by talking about it to your friends or networks, and liking our Facebook page, you can get the snowball rolling.

Do it! :)

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We've had a few hiccups along the way but they've smoothed out with a bit of creative thinking.
So far we have had a great amount of support from the community and cannot see any obstacles that could possibly get in the way of us completing this project successfully.



THINGS PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT THIS IDEA

"I think it's great that you've taken such a positive step toward making the world a better place. Thanks for being so forward-thinking and action-oriented."

---Melissa A. Fabello (editor Everyday Feminism)


"Representation (the political concept) in cultural forms (books, TV, radio etc) is an extremely important avenue for wider social acceptance of difference. It also helps us to accept, and be at peace with, our own points of difference. There were no gay characters when I was growing up... and there are barely any accurate representations of bisexual men even now... let alone any depictions of functioning long term poly relationships with children! The task of fairly representing the great diversity of human ways of being and relating is nowhere near complete! This book contributes to that worthy goal by making unique/mixed/modern families visible and understandable... I will be reading this to my daughter when it's finished. "

---Grant Bailey (communications specialist and former politics lecturer).


"I am a parent in a 'Traditional Family', I have educated my 2 daughters that 'Unique Families' are the norm. I applaud your work and look forward to the day that this kind of education is no longer required. But for now let's try our very best to show through your words and everyone's actions that all are accepted and just normal."

---Neita Wilson

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Special thanks to Jonathon Byron for helping us make our video.
Also to Capashen "Magic Way" for the soundtrack for our video.