Before We Met

By  Gabrielle Tozer & Sophie Beer

Reviewed by Margarite Igras

Gabrielle is an award-winning author, and freelance writer based in New South Wales. She has written YA books including Remind me How This Ends which was on the CBCA 2018 Notable List, The Intern, and Faking it, stories reflecting on the pain, pressures and pleasures of life between high school and what comes next. Her first picture book for younger readers, Peas And Quiet, is a delightful story about friendship, compromise and learning how to get along, while in this, her latest book, she explores the diversity of parenting, which she claims was a passion project…first written as a poem to her newborn daughter. Together with the bright and detailed artworks by Sophie beer, this is a wonderful story from the perspective of the excited parents in waiting.

There are many kinds of parents to be, and many kinds of ways in which a family can be created, including adoption and IVF. In this heartwarming story, we see a range of couples, waiting to meet a new addition to their family. They project their love and hope declaring to the stars, the bluest skies and the moon, To teach you well, to guide the way, to fill your days with fun.

The simple verse text beginning with the repetitive line – Before we met, introduces a range of couples and their wishes to their new arrival. The illustrations are bright and carry the story with some cleverly embedded details. Some may need adult explanation, such as the woman holding a form with Frozen Embryo Transfer on the cover.

A sensitive and beautifully illustrated book that will appeal to the younger 3- to 6-year-old reader as well as enable further discussion about adoption, IVF and the diversity of families.

Harper Collins AU 2024

Gabrielle Tozer

Sophie Beer