Different Is Still Us is a picture book to help kids through a parent’s injury — and the new normal that follows.
When a parent is hurt and everything changes at once, children are often the ones left with the hardest questions. Different Is Still Us tells the story of a young lion cub whose father is in a serious accident and can no longer play soccer with him. Together, they find new ways to play, connect, and stay on the same team.
Now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.
Why two attorneys wrote a children’s book
Different Is Still Us started with a memory, not a marketing plan.
Our co-founder Jason Javaheri grew up with a mother who was chronically ill. He knows what it feels like to be a kid watching a parent struggle — to feel scared, confused, and unsure whether things will ever feel normal again. There wasn’t a book that spoke to that experience when he was young. So we set out to write one.
“Kids don’t understand medical terminology,” says Jason. “They understand ‘Dad doesn’t play with me anymore, but here’s why he still wants to.’ That’s the language this book speaks.”
Co-author Yosi Yahoudai came at it as a father. In our work, we meet families every day who are navigating pain, loss, and conversations no parent feels ready for. We wanted to give those families something to hold onto — a way into the hard talks, told in language a child can actually follow.
We built the whole thing in-house. Early concepts came from our own team, people who see what these injuries do to a household long after the acute phase ends. We read the early drafts to our own kids and incorporated their notes.
What this children’s book helps with
Different Is Still Us gently opens up the things kids feel but can’t always say:
- A parent’s sudden change in physical ability
- New medical equipment and caregivers arriving in the home
- Grief and missing the way things used to be
- The family’s resilience in finding a new normal — together
What child and family clinicians say
We shared the idea behind the book with clinicians who work with children and families through exactly these transitions. Here’s why a story-based approach helps:
“Children handle changed circumstances better than changed stories. A book gives the family shared language and a reason to revisit the subject without reopening it cold.” — Anna Evans, NP, Family Nurse Practitioner
“A story makes the change predictable. It hands the child a beginning, a middle, and an ending they can hold — plus a character who feels what they feel and still comes out the other side.” — Michael Anderson, MA, LPC, Clinical Director, Healing Pines Recovery
“Storytelling allows children to put their confusing experiences into some kind of order they can make sense of. It’s one of the ways children process and cope with stressors.” — Dakari Quimby, PhD, MA, Clinical Advisor, Marietta Springs
“Children make sense of life through play, storytelling, and repetition — not long-winded explanations. A story-based approach helps normalize feelings like sadness, fear, and anger by showing a family with a shared experience learning to cope.” — Carolina Estevez, PsyD, Psychologist, Soba
Get the book
Different Is Still Us is available now on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.
Written by Jason Javaheri, Esq. and Yosi Yahoudai, Esq., co-founders of J&Y Law — an award-winning California personal injury firm that has helped more than 10,000 families through some of the hardest moments of their lives.
