Book Review: Tsion's Life

Tsion's Life by Stacy Bellward is a great book. I just got it and I love everything about it. The photography is awesome and each page has an Amharic word on it to teach the reader, it is the theme of the page. So, some pages are on family, friends, food, her township, etc.  This book tells about religion, language, family life, food, cultural things, school and work in the words of a child as well as pieces that are informative, and still quite interesting. This is an engaging and well put together book that will keep the attention of any age reader. A great way to learn about Ethiopia.
Amharic Kids
Amazon

Book review: E is for Ethiopia

E is for Ethiopia is a great book. Using the alphabet as organization for an overview of interesting facts about Ethiopia the books it combines explanations and fabulous photographs of Ethiopia to share some of the wonder of the country with it's reader. I love this book because it is not a text book and is very interesting to my boys . They can see the culture of their birth in beautiful photos and words which helps them to connect to it. I also like that it is written by Ethiopians. They have the passion to pass along and I feel they do this well with this simple yet beautiful kids book.
Check it out on Amazon.

Book Review: Yafi's Family

Yafi's Family is a great book. These are the things I love about this book:
1. the child is a boy
2. he is adopted as an older child
3. he is orphaned by death
4. he is Ethiopian
5. his parents retained his birth name
6. He has siblings in his adoptive home

I like these things because my boys can relate to each of these things very very well. It is a story about another boy, yet a story about themselves as well. The story is unique in that there are very few books about Ethiopian adoption, few books about older child adoption and even fewer about children who were orphaned by death rather than relinquished or abandoned. I would highly recommend this book for your home library. I think we will read this one over and over. As a note, I would suggest talking about feelings after you read this book and giving lots of affirmation. It triggered some sad feelings of loss the first time we read it for one of my sons. He likes this book, because it helps him feel like he is not alone in his loss. That is valuable.

Good books vs just books

I believe there are books that are not bad nor good but certainly not worth ones time. In that category fall two very popular book series for young children (my opinion only). Curious George and Clifford the Big Red Dog. I am sorry. I don't like these books. If you do, that is fine. Go ahead and keep liking them.

This is what I don't like: Curious George is a prime example of what not to do instead of what to do. We do not take monkeys out of the jungle. That is wrong. We do not keep wild animals in our home. That is a no brainer. Ok, curious George is more like a child than a wild animal in these stories. We do not leave our children unattended, but they used to, that is just asking for it. When they get in trouble there are real life consequences, you do not get off the hook just because you did something nice too or are cute or your naughtiness ended up making someone laugh. No way, it does not work like that. Things do not always turn out so well. It is ok to be curious but it is not ok to be careless or naughty. There is a big difference.  It would be bad parenting to be like the man with the yellow hat. I don't like Curious George books. I hate to admit it, I have one. The kids all like it and they know I don't and exactly why. You certainly don't have to agree. :)

Clifford the Big Red Dog. Ok, he is not sooooo bad. I just don't like the art or the story. No good reason. Just not a classic for me.

So, the Kindergarteners were allowed to bring home a book to sponsor at the school library. They could choose a book and bring it home and we can send in money and have a name plate put in with our child's name. What book did K bring home? Clifford the Big Red Dog. I said no. What book did he bring home as the next option? Curious George. Oh groan, no, no, no. So, we went to the school library together to preview GOOD literature. Ok, they are picture books, but it all starts there. You read trash when you are 5 and .............. no just kidding. :)

So, I showed him books that have a good story line which teaches a lesson and empathy for others, AND has fabulous art. Those are good books. We will be sponsoring Beatrice's Goat (Heifer Project book) and a book on adoption called Through Moon and Stars and a Night Skies (a Reading Rainbow Book), AND they will allow me to send a list of good adoption books to them and I will sponsor any they choose into the library and there is a teacher section which will soonly be enhanced with books on adopted kids in your classroom and Aspergers. How nice.

Summer time books

Roxaboxen by Barbara Cooney is a great book about kids having fun being kids in the summer. They create a village all their own, with money and stores and homes. The unscheduled playtime of the summer gives way to fond memories and great creativity. It fosters community and bonds between playmates and siblings. This, and the books that follow are great stories of what can occur when kids are allowed to just be kids. This is the stuff of childhood memories and "the good old days". May Roxaboxen live on with our kids this summer and summers to come.

In Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burns, a boy named Andrew loves to create. His family does not quite understand his need to invent, and so he finds a meadow in which to play all summer long. He is joined by other kids from the neighborhood who also need a solice in which to create and be. It turns into quite the little village for kids. This book celebrates the creative spirit in kids and the differences in all of us. Another good book about letting kids have time and space to be kids.

The Summerfolk by Doris Burns is another great story about kids creating a little village all their own in which to play and create and live. It showcases the various interests and personalities of the children and the wonderful ways they can get along and have some summer fun.

 This is a super cute book. The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant is a cute and funny book about when the family comes to visit. Maybe you have the family coming and maybe you are the family coming. Either way, it is a good laugh for all ages.

Though I have not read these books, I believe I will be looking for them at the library this summer. They sound like good summer books too!
The Raft by Jim Lamarche  Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant

I'd Choose You -book review

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Book review: children's: "I'd choose you"

I'd Choose You is a great book for kids by John Trent.
It tells about a kid who had a bad day and the parent encourages him by giving many instances when she would choose him over his friends to love and comfort and lift up. Very reassuring. Although it is not an adoption book and the parent and child are both grey elephants, it is a good theme for adopted kids, especially if the parent tells the child after the reading "I choose you too!". Great for any kid. Unfortunately it is out of print. We found our second hand.