About Us
THE AUTHOR
Rachel Brace is the author of the children's book 'Max's Divorce Earthquake'. She is a registered psychologist and co-creator and founder of SteppingThrough an educational and support web-based resource for stepparents and their partners. Rachel has worked extensively with children and families over many years, across a variety of settings in New Zealand, United Kingdom and Australia.
Currently, Rachel consults privately from The Relationspace in Sydney’s CBD to families on issues relating to separation and divorce, family conflict, post separation parenting, co-parenting and stepfamily living. She provides crucial support and guidance not only to children, young people and their parents, but to lawyers, judges and others who are often on the front lines of family break down.
Rachel enjoys reading and believes that books can be a tremendous help in explaining significant life events such as divorce and separation to children and in supporting children as they confront (and cope with) challenges in their daily life. This belief combined with her professional expertise as a psychologist is what inspires her to write stories that help encourage awareness in children and in adults of the emotions children might feel when changes happen in their family as a result of things like divorce or a parent re-partnering.
Originally from New Zealand, Rachel now lives in Sydney with her family, which includes her beloved pet schnauzer 'Maxie'.
You can also find Rachel on Facebook and Instagram @kinshipbooks
OUR PHILOSOPHY
At Kinship Books we know that research tells us that reading and storytelling with children from infancy through kindergarten and beyond, encourages and supports brain development and imagination, teaches children about language and emotions and empathy and strengthens their relationships. It can also help build resilience and mental strength.
We believe that by reading books with young children about issues such as divorce and separation, family break-down, post separation parenting/shared care and stepfamily living, parents and carers can have a positive influence on how their children cope. We aim to write books about these types of sensitive issues to help pave the way to improved emotional expression in children, enabling them to move through their feelings (what ever they may be) and towards adjustment and resilience.
OUR BOOKS
Rachel specialises in writing books for children between 4-7 years of age that have experienced changes in their family situation as a result of divorce, separation or a parent re-partnering and stepfamily formation. Max’s Divorce Earthquake is Rachel’s first book. A second story, about a girl named Harriet whose father re-marries making her a part of a stepfamily, has been accepted for publication. Entitled, Harriet’s Expanding Heart, this book is on track for release in 2020.
Introducing a new story or book about a specific, sensitive topic such as divorce can be particularly helpful for young children because it can help to clarify feelings, provides words and language enabling a child to more easily talk about feelings, and assist in validating a child’s experience. Books and stories can also reassure children that what they are feeling in response to a stressful situation or event is normal, give them ideas about how to handle feelings as well as foster an awareness that they are not alone in their feelings or the first/only one to encounter a particular problem.
The messages contained in our books are ultimately positive: children are reassured that all of their feelings are normal; that there is no right or wrong way to feel; that their parents still love and will care for them no matter what; and that their changed family circumstances are neither their fault nor their problem to fix.
Our books also contain basic tips for parents/adults/carers about how they can emotionally support their children when change happens within a family as a result of parental separation, divorce, a parent re-partnering and/or stepfamily formation.
