Always Your Stepdad

by Stephanie Stansbie, Tatiana Kamshilina (Illustrator)

Overview

A heartwarming picture book about the unique bond between a stepfather and his stepchild.

I’d missed your first steps and your wobbly walk,
But you took my whole heart in your hand.

The special relationship of stepdads and stepkids is celebrated in this gentle and loving tribute to blended families. Showing joy-filled scenes of family life and milestones, this book is ideal for every child of a loving stepfather. It's the perfect way to say: "If I had been there on your very first day, I could never have treasured you more."

Also available: Always Your Stepmom

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593709122
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	04/09/2024
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	92 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

STEPHANIE STANSBIE has been a children’s book editor for more than twenty years, and an author for the last ten. She adores editing and writing in equal measure and has always worked on illustrated books, where the art is as important as the word. Stephanie lost her dad when she was one but gained a brilliant new one at the age of five. Always Your Stepdad and Always your Stepmom were inspired by their relationship. She lives in Oxford, England, and enjoys sewing, dancing and goofing about with her family. Follow her on Instagram at @stephstansbie.

TATIANA KAMSHILNA is an illustrator and animator based in Russia. Her work is often inspired by nature, animals, everyday life, dreams, and folklore. She mostly works digitally, using textures from traditional materials. See more of her work on Instagram at @tatianakawkaw.

Editorial Reviews

04/08/2024

“The first day we met,/ I was awkward and shy./ But your smile was/ so warm and so wise.// How could I have known/ how my life was to change/ when I looked in those bright,/ thoughtful eyes?” A scrapbook aesthetic punctuates this familial reminiscence by Stansbie, voiced by an adult narrator recalling a burgeoning relationship with a stepchild. Rhyming lines trace the duo’s growing bond, time spent together solo and with the child’s parent, and a moment “when I truly felt I was your.../ DAD.” In desaturated blues, oranges, and reds, Kamshilina features childlike drawings, memorabilia (movie passes, train tickets), and snapshots, all collaged on the page with decorative elements, including patterned tape and stickers. As the adult muses on growing affection for the child, the recollections build to a self-referential image of the now-family of three peering into a photo album, and a promise: “I’ll always be here.” Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Publishing simultaneously: Always Your Stepmom. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"A gentle and encouraging story with suggestions on how to create a loving blended family."—Kirkus

"A scrapbook aesthetic punctuates this familial reminiscence.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2024-02-03
Parenting is a difficult job, but stepping into the role of a stepdad can be even more challenging.

Aimed at both parents and children, this book offers a reassuring glimpse of one blended family’s journey. The stepdad is “awkward and shy” when he first meets the child, but the youngster greets him with a smile. The stepdad and child work out their relationship on their own, with little intervention from the child’s primary parent. In general, the child guides the father “gently along this new path” as they take walks together, garden, and play dress-up until the day the child draws a picture of the two of them and labels the father figure “DAD!” It’s a happy milestone for both of them, a sign of the precious, lasting relationship they’ve been working toward. Kamshilina makes use of two styles of illustrations. On the endpapers and periodically throughout, she offers a kid’s-eye view of the new family in progress through illustrations that resemble a child’s crayon drawings. More realistic illustrations, “taped” to the pages like scrapbook snapshots, capture important events and daily life alike. The stepdad is brown-skinned, while the rest of the family is white-presenting.

A gentle and encouraging story with suggestions on how to create a loving blended family. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews