The Other Family — An Illustrated English Learning Storybook
Welcome to this interactive illustrated learning companion based on “The Other Family” by Himani Bannerji. It is designed for Higher Secondary English learners to make reading, revision and literary understanding clearer through visual presentation.
The 25 numbered slides present the important events, characters, images and ideas of the lesson in sequence. Students can turn the pages like a physical book, use the arrow keys or swipe on mobile devices, and open the reader in fullscreen mode for comfortable viewing.
- follow the mother–daughter conflict and its resolution;
- understand migration, racism, identity and belonging;
- study the symbols of the drawing, mirror, window and snow;
- recognise the importance of representation and multicultural acceptance;
- revise the lesson quickly before examinations.
Story in Brief
An immigrant mother and her young daughter live in Canada. The mother feels lonely in the cold, unfamiliar country and worries that her daughter may lose touch with their cultural identity.
A school assignment creates conflict between them. The girl draws a white family because her books and classmates present that image as the normal family. The mother is shocked because the drawing does not resemble their dark-skinned family. Her emotional questions frighten the child, but they also make the girl examine her own appearance and identity.
The next day, the girl adds a dark-skinned immigrant family beside the white family. She calls it “the other family.” The completed picture reveals both the pain of exclusion and the possibility of a multicultural identity in which different families receive equal space and respect.
Major Ideas
- Identity and belonging: the child learns to recognise and include her own family.
- Migration and alienation: the mother feels caught between her homeland and Canada.
- Representation: children need to see their own cultures and appearances in books and education.
- Racism and social authority: schoolbooks silently establish the white family as the accepted model.
- Multicultural acceptance: the final picture makes space for both families.
How to Use the Storybook
Read the prescribed lesson first. Then use these visual slides to recall the sequence of events, important symbols and central message. The storybook is a supplementary resource for classroom discussion, independent study and examination revision.