Review: What Makes A Family


Halloween may be all but over - bar the sugar rushes and tummy aches - but this recently released picture book celebrating the Filipino Day of the Dead lingers with gentle compassion and tender sentiments, rather like the memory of a dearly departed one. What Makes a Family by Eric Ruiz Roxas and Aldy C Aguirre resonates love with a warmth that belies the subject matter.

Pedrito and his sister Pipay are all dressed up and on their way to the local cemetery. They are not alone, swept up in a tide of families also headed for the gravestones. Pipay is confused, reminding her brother that they no longer have a father or mother as many of these families appear to have so why are they going there.

Before entering, candles are purchased along with a delicate flower necklace. As they head further in, they pass groups of domestic harmony, families enjoying meals together, laughing, singing, dancing even performing karaoke! It is less of a place of the dead and more of a place of unbridled festivity. Pipay observes everything and everyone around her including the families with parents (tatay and nanays) some with two nanays and some without any, like she and Pedrito. Until finally, hand in hand, they reach a quiet corner and share their humble gifts alongside their parents' gravestone. 

Solemnity is dispelled by the arrival of their beloved grandparents, lolo and lola and along with them, the profound realisation, that they will always be a family.

What Makes A Family is a sensitive yet illuminating look into this annual custom that celebrates one of the most inevitable aspects of life - death. Rather than run and hide from the passing on of loved ones, this cultural tradition embraces the love associated with memories of those that have moved on - not lost, but no longer physically here beside us. The exuberance of life is in the celebration of remembrance and reinforcement of family connection. 

Roxas' narrative resides snuggly within pages of Aguirre's soft subtle watercoloured artwork. Weeping brushstrokes in lieu of harsh outlines prevail. Colours accentuate joy and love amidst a place normally associated with blanched colourless misery resulting in an experience that floats hope. 

Picture books like these do more than simply introduce young readers to words and endearments they might not otherwise encounter in their everyday lives. They expand horizons by embracing perspectives that rescind fears and prejudices, gently shifting realisations, and reminding us that we are all the same human. 

Title: What Makes A Family: Celebrating The Filipino Day Of The Dead
Author: Eric Ruiz Roxas
Illustrator: Aldy C Aguirre
Publisher: Lantana Publishing, $24.99 (Australian rrp)
Publication Date: 13 October 2026
Format:  Hardcover
ISBN:  9781836290339
For ages: 3 - 8
Type: Picture Book

Buy the Book:     Lantana Publishing      

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