Book Review: Busy Baby

One day when I took Tigger to the doctor, we got this book.  He LOVED it and talked to the baby on each page.  He would always look to the side of the book that had the baby's face on it. 

Now Elmer also interacts with this book.  He doesn't talk to the babies but has started smiling at some of them.  The one below is his favorite!  Interestingly enough, his second favorite is one that Tigger didn't talk to.

The book seems so simple (just one short sentence and a baby's picture on each page) but I'm realizing that this is a GREAT book for the six-ish month age group.  And apparently it is only one in the Baby Days series.  This book is definitely staying in my infant book rotation!

On the Night You Were Born

When I went to the Amaz*n site to get this thumbnail, it told me that I bought this book in July 2013, which was right after I started the foster care licensing process.  I had seen the book in a store and knew I just had to have it to read to my foster children.  The essence of the book is that all of the world celebrated the uniqueness of that child on the night he was born. 

On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, "Life will never be the same."  Because there had never been anyone like you... ever in the world.

The message I take out of it for my foster kids is that no matter what the situation was when they were came into this world, no matter what abuse or neglect they endured... the world  - and God - was still celebrating that child's birth... even if possibly their parents weren't. 

I cried the other night reading this book to Elmer.  Because his mother couldn't have known what a gift she was bringing into this world that night.  Because despite that, I know that the world rejoiced at his presence.  And because I wish that I could have been there to celebrate him then, too. 

Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born.



Three Little Words - A Review

 

 

One of my foster mom friends let me borrow this book.  It is a memoir of Ashley Rhodes-Courter, who was in fourteen different foster homes over the course of nine years. 

 

This is an almost unbelievable account of all of the terrible things that happened to this girl in foster care.  It tears my heart apart that a child who is already in turmoil from being removed from her home and family, has to endure the kind of abuse and humiliation from the people who supposedly were keeping her safe from what she was removed from.  It is sad to me that the place she seemed happiest while she was in care was in a group home (in my mind, the last place a child in foster care should be; for her, it was a haven).  It is also really sad to me that the foster care system failed her in so many ways. 

 

Despite all of this, Ashley moves into adulthood as an inspiring and positive member of society. 

 

The book is very well-written and captivating.  At times, the content was difficult to read - not because of how she was writing it, but rather because it was so hard to fathom that the things she was describing could have actually been happening in the 1980's and 1990's. 

 

Highly recommend this book!

Welcome to the Roller Coaster - Review







May is National Foster Care Month.  I had planned to write at least a couple of posts about foster care, and just never got around to it.  So at least I will post a review of this wonderful book.  It can be bought on Amaz*n. 

 

 



This book was written by a group of fourteen foster moms, two of whom I am online friends with.  It's possible that I follow the blogs of some of the others.  I would guess that many of you reading my blog found me through one of those foster moms, in which case you already know about the book. 

But if you have not heard of the book, and you are considering fostering or are a new (or even seasoned) foster parent, you HAVE to read this book.  It would also be eye-opening and helpful to anyone who is in the support system of a foster parent.  Foster care is a whole different world, and this book shows all aspects of the system. 

I have only read a handful of books in the last few years (life has gotten in the way), most taking many months to finish. I read this one cover to cover in a week! I am a fairly new foster parent and can already relate to some of the stories and relationships. It was so great to hear the real-life, in-the-trenches, honest stories of foster care - some with happy endings and some with not-so-happy endings. I cried both tears of joy and heartache for these real foster moms when reading their stories.