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Just Because by Rebecca Elliott (view source)
Revision as of 13:40, 30 March 2018
, 13:40, 30 March 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox2
|title=Just Because
|author=Rebecca Elliott
|reviewer=Keith Dudhnath
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A gorgeous tale of sibling affection. ''Just Because'' is brimming with love and warmth, and Rebecca Elliott's illustrations are superb too. Highly recommended. She was kind enough to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Rebecca Elliott|interviewed by Bookbag]].
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0745962351
|pages=32
|publisher=Lion Hudson
|date=August 2010
|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>0745962351</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=0745962351|cover=<amazonus>0745962351</amazonus>
|website=http://www.rebeccaelliott.com/
}}
Toby's best friend is his big sister, Clemmie. She can't walk, talk or move around much. Just because. He loves her dearly, and we discover all the many ways they play together. It's an utterly gorgeous tale of sibling affection.
Clemmie, as you might have guessed, uses a wheelchair. And so cue my liberal awkwardness in making sure I pitch the tone of the book correctly to you. ''Just because'' sums it up perfectly, and works brilliantly as a repeated note throughout. Toby loves his sister for many many reasons. Some, but not all, of the things he tells us about stem from her disability - there are differences, but it's not her sole defining characteristic. It's just because. There's no major breaking down barriers, there's certainly no tokenism. These are a brother and sister who love each other dearly - it just so happens that one of them has a disability.
Disability features far too scarcely in children's books, but when it's there it's usually done well. As I noted in the review of [[Einstein's Underpants - And How They Saved The World by Anthony McGowan|Einstein's Underpants]], there's an understanding and an acceptance that kids often seem to do so much better than adults. Better representation leads to more familiarity, which leads to normalisation of people's attitudes towards it. Just like we're so far beyond saying ''Oh and the main character's best friend is BLACK. Isn't that MARRRRRRRRRVELLOUS?'', we'll get to the stage where books including disability are doing so just because. ''Just Because'' is a strong and important part of that process, and I look forward to the day when my reviews of such books better reflect the tone of the books themselves.
My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
There's plenty of sisterly love in [[Bedtime Without Arthur by Jessica Meserve]]. [[Green by Mark Sperring and Leo Timmers]] has a more confrontational sibling relationship, but it's hilarious. [[Baby Baby Blah Blah Blah! by Jonathan Shipton and Francesca Chessa]] looks at a new addition to a family. Older readers will love [[Red Sky in the Morning by Elizabeth Laird]].
{{interviewtext|author=Rebecca Elliott}} {{amazontext|amazon=0745962351}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=73269270745962351}}
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