Illustrated by Arieh Zeldich. 32 p., Macmillan, 1984.
A girl describes the transition between her mother's urban apartment, where she lives during the school year, and her father's cabin in the woods, where she lives during the summer. Her sadness about being away from each parent is acknowledged, as well as her joy in the special parts of her relationship with each parent and in the life she has with each of them. Although they're different in many ways, both parents will always love their daughter. Kids may ask why the girl travels alone on an airplane or is allowed to ride in a pickup truck bed. But her feelings of loving and missing each parent, and her sense of resolution in their shared love for her, offer empathy and hope to children whose parents have divorced.
Ages 7-10
Main character's cultural background: European American
Cultural context: European American
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Jason's Story: Going to a Foster Home by Deborah Anderson and Martha Finne
Illustrated by Jeanette Swofford. 47 p., Dillon Press, 1986.
Seven-year-old Jason was placed in a loving foster home during infancy, after being neglected by his 16-year-old single mother. At the age of two, he was reunited with his mother. Around the age of four, his mother repeatedly physically abused him, and he felt he was a bad boy. He was placed in another foster home, where he felt lonely. He learns from a new social worker that he is not to blame for his mother's troubles, and with this social worker's help, is again reunited with his mother, who has finally learned to care for him properly and to talk with him, not hit, when he does things he's not supposed to do. Jason's feelings about separation, angry feelings in his home, and multiple placements are addressed sensitively but realistically. This book contains a glossary and an afterword for adults. This book can help children understand what foster care is like, and is especially helpful in its emphasis on the idea that children in foster care are not to blame for their families' problems.
Ages 5-9
Main character's cultural background: African American
Cultural context: African American
Seven-year-old Jason was placed in a loving foster home during infancy, after being neglected by his 16-year-old single mother. At the age of two, he was reunited with his mother. Around the age of four, his mother repeatedly physically abused him, and he felt he was a bad boy. He was placed in another foster home, where he felt lonely. He learns from a new social worker that he is not to blame for his mother's troubles, and with this social worker's help, is again reunited with his mother, who has finally learned to care for him properly and to talk with him, not hit, when he does things he's not supposed to do. Jason's feelings about separation, angry feelings in his home, and multiple placements are addressed sensitively but realistically. This book contains a glossary and an afterword for adults. This book can help children understand what foster care is like, and is especially helpful in its emphasis on the idea that children in foster care are not to blame for their families' problems.
Ages 5-9
Main character's cultural background: African American
Cultural context: African American
Monday, September 13, 2010
Just Like Home / Como en Mi Tierra by Elizabeth I. Miller
Translated by Teresa Mlawer. Illustrated by Mira Reisberg. 32 p., Whitman, 1999.
This bilingual book tells the story of a Latino family's immigration to the United States. The daughter notices what is "just like home" and what is "not like home." The family stays with relatives for about two months until they get their own apartment. Although the kids at school aren't friendly, the girl's cousin helps her to get along there, but doesn't always include her with other children. Finally, when other children invite her to play, the girl has fun, and begins to feel at home. An appendix invites readers to find various objects on each page, encouraging monolingual readers to learn the language they don't know. This story conveys empathy with the experience of immigration, and the upbeat ending offers hope of a positive outcome.
Ages 3-8
Main character's cultural background: Latina
Cultural context: multicultural
This bilingual book tells the story of a Latino family's immigration to the United States. The daughter notices what is "just like home" and what is "not like home." The family stays with relatives for about two months until they get their own apartment. Although the kids at school aren't friendly, the girl's cousin helps her to get along there, but doesn't always include her with other children. Finally, when other children invite her to play, the girl has fun, and begins to feel at home. An appendix invites readers to find various objects on each page, encouraging monolingual readers to learn the language they don't know. This story conveys empathy with the experience of immigration, and the upbeat ending offers hope of a positive outcome.
Ages 3-8
Main character's cultural background: Latina
Cultural context: multicultural
Monday, September 6, 2010
Healing Feelings: A Healing Story for Children Coping With a Grownup's Mental Illness by Leslie Baker, M.A., MFT
24 p., Tate, 2010.
It can be confusing and upsetting when your parent, or another important adult, has a mental health problem. In this rhyming story, author and marriage and family therapist Leslie Baker demystifies adults' mental disorders. After reviewing feelings that are familiar to children, she explains that sometimes, adults' feelings don't work in the way they should, as a source of information that will "help our minds know where to guide us." She empathizes with children's sense of loss of the happy parent (or other adult) they once knew, and reassures kids that their adult will feel better again, with the help of therapists ("feeling healers") and physicians. Reading this story offers children understanding and hope in a painful situation.
More information about the book is available at The Healing Feelings Book.
Ages 3-8
Main character's cultural background: none
Cultural context: multicultural
It can be confusing and upsetting when your parent, or another important adult, has a mental health problem. In this rhyming story, author and marriage and family therapist Leslie Baker demystifies adults' mental disorders. After reviewing feelings that are familiar to children, she explains that sometimes, adults' feelings don't work in the way they should, as a source of information that will "help our minds know where to guide us." She empathizes with children's sense of loss of the happy parent (or other adult) they once knew, and reassures kids that their adult will feel better again, with the help of therapists ("feeling healers") and physicians. Reading this story offers children understanding and hope in a painful situation.
More information about the book is available at The Healing Feelings Book.
Ages 3-8
Main character's cultural background: none
Cultural context: multicultural