We’re All Not the Same, But We’re Still Family: An Adoption and Birth Family Story

HOME SCHOOL BOOK REVIEW

Book: We’re All Not the Same, But We’re Still Family: An Adoption and Birth Family Story

Authors: Theresa Fraser and Eric E. W. Fraser

Publisher: Loving Healing Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1615994793 Hardcover

ISBN-10: 1615994793 Hardcover

ISBN-13: 978-1615994786 Paperback

ISBN-10: 1615994785 Paperback

Related website(s): http://www.TheresaFraser.com (author), http://www.LHPress.com (publisher)

Language level: 1

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level: Ages 5 – 8

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Fraser, Theresa, and Fraser, Eric E. W.  We’re All Not the Same, But We’re Still Family: An Adoption and Birth Family Story (Published in 2019 by Loving Healing Press, 5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI  48105).  Thirteen year old Deshaun moved in with his foster-to-adoption family when he was two years old and was officially adopted when he was six, so now he lives with his adoptive parents, brother, and sister.  He loves his family but has always wondered about his biological parents. Does he look like them? Did they love him?  And can they stand on one leg for a long time as he can? With the support of his adoptive parents, Deshaun seeks to find his biological family.  Will he be able to locate them?  If he does, what will their reaction be? And how will it affect his relationship with his adoptive family?

Having adopted both of our sons, I found that this book covers the exact questions and issues that were discussed in our pre-adoption training. The story was written for adoptive families to explore the benefits of adoption openness.  In her “For Parents and Caregivers Only” at the back of the book, co-author Theresa Harris, a therapist and adoptive mother, warns, “Openness may not always be positive for families.”  But when it is a positive experience, it can help to address the important themes of identity, attachment, grief, and loss that adopted children (and their parents) often have to deal with.

Co-author Eric Fraser is a seventeen year old adoptee who, like Deshaun, found some of his birth family when he was in middle school too.   We’re All Not the Same, but We’re Still Family would be a great resource to help both adoptive parents and children to open a conversation where they can discuss feelings about adoption, imagine what openness might mean for them, acknowledge similarities and differences among family members, and explore whether an expanded sense of family is possible for their circumstances.  It could also help to promote a better understanding by the general population for the feelings that young adoptees face.

The Legend of the Tickle Bugs

HOME SCHOOL BOOK REVIEW

Book: The Legend of the Tickle Bugs

Author: Tom Blubaugh

Illustrator: Becky Michel

Publisher: Trinity Press, republished 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1497584112

ISBN-10: 1497584116

Related website(s): http://tomblubaugh.net (author), http://BeckyMichel.com (illustrator)

Language level: 1

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level: Ages 9-12

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation  has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Blubaugh, Tom.  The Legend of the Tickle Bugs (Originally published in 2014 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; republished in 2017 by Trinity Press International, a division of Trinity Web Works LLC, 6 Centerpointe Dr., Suite 400, Lake Oswego, OR  97035). The Bible says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine” (Proverbs 17:22).  In the movie Mary Poppins, Uncle Albert sings, “I love to laugh, loud and long and clear.”  Everyone needs to laugh now and then.  Long before babies learn how to crawl and walk, they smile and laugh and gurgle.  The Legend of the Tickle Bugs is designed to make the reader (or listener) laugh by telling the story about the creation of the phenomenon known as tickling that produces laughter.  Where did the tickle bugs come from?  Who created them?  And how do they work?

While working with young people at camps and youth groups, author Tom Blubaugh has performed many antics to teach children through laughter, so it was only natural for him to invent invisible tickle bugs to tickle his fourteen grandchildren.  Then when his granddaughter Hannah called and asked him to bring some tickle bugs on his next visit, he was inspired to write this book.  In addition to being just plain fun, there is also the story’s message that will teach kids how God provides for everything for us.  They will love the adorable graphics as well.

Why Do We Say Good Night?

HOME SCHOOL BOOK REVIEW

Book: Why Do We Say Good Night?

Author: Champ Thornton

Illustrator: Rommel Ruiz

Publisher: New Growth Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1645070306

ISBN-10: 1645070301

Related website(s): http://www.newgrowthpress.com (publisher), http://www.rommelruiz.com (illustrator)

Language level:  1

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level: Ages 2-6

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Thornton, Champ.  Why Do We Say Good Night? (Published in 2019 by New Growth Press, P. O. Box 4485, Greensboro, NC  27404).  A little girl is going to bed, and her mother says, “Good night.”  But the girl is afraid of the dark and wonders why her mom would call the night good when you can’t see and there are weird shapes and scary sounds.   The mother tries to calm her daughter’s fears.  How does she do it?  What can she say to help her daughter?  And will the girl listen?  Nearly every parent has had to deal at one time or another with a child who is afraid of the dark.

Award-winning author George Thomas (Champ) Thornton, associate minister at Ogletown Baptist Church in Newark, Delaware, has written this beautifully designed book, vividly illustrated by Rommel Ruiz, to help parents bring comfort and encouragement to their children at night with three facts about God, reminding them that the Lord is always near.  As the mother and daughter talk, they remember together how that God made the night, He sees in the dark, and He watches over us just like a shepherd protects his sheep.

We adults understand that a child’s fears are imaginary, but to the child they’re very real.  This book doesn’t just dismiss those fears out of hand but points to trust in a loving heavenly Father who cares for us as the answer for dealing with them.  Why Do We Say Good Night? could start a new nighttime tradition for parent and child to read together about why we can say that the night is good.  Thornton is also the author of several other books, including The Radical Book for Kids and Pass It On: A Proverbs Journal for the Next Generation.

The Boy to Man Book: Preparing Your Son for Manhood

HOME SCHOOL BOOK REVIEW

Book: The Boy to Man Book: Preparing Your Son for Manhood

Author: Bryan Fischer

Publisher: American Family Association, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1-935932-04-8

ISBN-10: 1-935932-04-8

Related website(s): http://www.afa.net (publisher)

Language level: 1

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level:  Boys ages 12-16 and their fathers

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Fischer, Bryan.  The Boy to Man Book: Preparing Your Son for Manhood (Published in 2018 by American Family Association, Tupelo, MS).  Bryan Fischer is the host of the Focal Point radio program heard weekdays on the American Family Radio network and has successfully raised a son, Jonathan David (J. D.).  The Boy to Man Book is designed for fathers to read with their 12-year-old sons to introduce them to the rich wisdom about manhood from the book of Proverbs.  It covers such subjects as fearing and trusting God, friendship, booze and drugs, anger, sex, pornography, dating, how to recognize the woman they are to marry, work, money, speech, finding God’s will for their lives, and even politics.  Each of the 24 chapters closes with a prayer that a father can pray over his son.

In his Introduction, Bryan writes, “There is a crying need for a strong masculine presence in our homes, our churches, our communities, and our nation today….Where do the men of tomorrow come from?…There is only one place we are going to find the men our nation will need in the years to come: they must come from the homes of today.  Not from our churches, although the church clearly has a role.  Not from our schools, which have abandoned character instruction altogether.  Not from youth organizations, as helpful as they may be, for the simple reason that no one can replace a father in a young boy’s life….This book is addressed to your son, but it is designed for you to read with your son between his 12^th and 13^th birthdays….This book is designed to help you firmly establish your own son in the timeless wisdom of Solomon.”

We homeschooled both of our boys so that in their curriculum we were able to address all the issues dealt with in this book, and their Bible studies in the book of Proverbs were an important part of that curriculum.  Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX, wrote, “The Boy to Man Book is a timely resource for dads looking to mold their young sons into the bold, mature men our world is going to need. It’s hands-on and user-friendly, and best of all, it’s based on the timeless wisdom of Solomon in the book of Proverbs. Dads, if you’ve got a young son, you can’t go wrong with this book!”  All fathers who feel keenly their responsibility to bring their sons up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” but are not quite sure how to do it may find that this book is what they are looking for.  And homeschooling fathers can use it as a vital resource in a “life skills” class for their teenage sons.

The Little Lame Prince

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Book: The Little Lame Prince

Author: Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Illustrators: F. M. Ralston, Dorothy Todd

Publisher: Outlook Verlag, republished 2018

ISBN-13: 978-3734025938 Hardcover

ISBN-10: 3734025931 Hardcover

ISBN-13: 978-1533152633 Paperback,

ISBN-10: 1533152632 Paperback

Language level: 1

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level: Ages 8-12

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock.  The Little Lame Prince (Published originally in 1875 by Daldy Isbister and Co., London, England; republished in 1983 by Watermill Press, Mahwah, NJ).  After ten years of reign, the King and Queen of Nomanland finally have a son and heir whom they name Prince Dolor after his mother Dolorez.  Everyone is happy except the King’s brother who had been Crown Prince and heir presumptive. On the day of Prince Dolor’s presentation, there is a great procession. His nurse is fiddling with her dress while holding the Prince, and she drops him, causing damage to his spine, but she tells no one. The Prince is paralyzed and his legs never grow strong. He cannot walk; he can only crawl with his arms. Shortly afterwards, the Prince’s Mother (the Queen) dies. Then a little later, the King suddenly dies too.

Right before his death, the King had asked his brother to serve as Regent until the Prince is older.  The Prince’s uncle sends Dolor away, ostensibly for rest and recuperation in the Beautiful Mountains, and then, after telling everyone that Dolor has died, moves into the castle with family and rules the kingdom.  But in truth Dolor is exiled by the new King to live in a lonely tower in the middle of a wasteland. His only companion is a nurse who is a prisoner too. A deaf mute Black Knight brings them food and other supplies once a month. As the Little Prince grows older, a fairy godmother provides a magical travelling cloak so he can see, but not touch, the world. He uses this cloak to go on various adventures, and develops great wisdom and empathy in the process.  What happens to Dolor?  Can he escape the tower and return to his kingdom?   And will he ever be made whole?

The full title of this book by author Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, writing as Miss Mulock, is The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak: A Parable for Young and Old.  Its purpose was to stimulate positive feelings in young readers so that they would be motivated to adopt socially correct actions in whatever circumstances they encountered.  She shows how imagination, as illustrated by the cloak, can lead to empathy and enlightened morality.  This charming and wonderfully simple story has a powerful message that all people have worth.  By emphasizing the concepts of contentment and selflessness, it will help kids to realize that those less fortunate can have a positive attitude and that we should walk in others’ shoes before complaining of our walk in life.

My Trip to Alpha I

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Book: My Trip to Alpha I

Author: Alfred Slote

Illustrator: Harold Berson

Publisher: Harper Trophy, republished 1992

ISBN-13: 978-0812446197 Hardcover

ISBN-10: 0812446194 Hardcover

ISBN-13: 978-0440847342 Paperback

ISBN-10: 0440847346 Paperback

Language level: 2

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level: Ages 7-10

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Slote, Alfred.  My Trip to Alpha I (Published in 1978 and republished in 1986 by Harper Trophy, a trademark of HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 10 E. 53^rd, New York City, NY  10022).  Eleven year old Jack Stephenson lives with his dad, mom, and older sister Jan, thirteen, in New Jersey on planet Earth.  His wealthy Aunt Katherine DeVanter lives in a huge ranch house near Nottingham City on Alpha 1, six million light years away, where she owns a huge mining operation left to her by her late husband, Jack’s Uncle Rudolph.  Jack doesn’t want to go to Alpha I because he’s captain of the sixth grade basketball team. But Aunt Katherine has specifically asked for him to come and help her pack up to return to Earth. And she’s even paid for him to go by voya-code, a new way of travelling which involves implanting a person’s computer code in a dummy at the intended destination while the real body is asleep at the place of origin, and thus it takes only a few seconds.

When Jack gets to Alpha, all his aunt can talk about are Alpha natives Frank and Ruth Arbo, her servants, to whom she is leaving her entire estate. To his surprise, Jack learns that he is there to witness the signing of the transfer document.   However, something doesn’t seem right.  Why is Aunt Katherine acting so strangely?  What’s really going on?  And can Jack do anything about it all by himself?  This Book 2 of 5 in the “Robot Buddy Series” is science fiction for the intermediate grades.  There are a couple of euphemisms (darndest, gee), but the story is fairly straight forward and lots of fun, since the future world presented is interesting and will capture kid’s imagination. It is short, and with the element of mystery will especially appeal to youngsters just beginning to read chapter books.

It’s All About the People

HOME SCHOOL BOOK REVIEW

Book: It’s All About the People

Author: Dee Bowman

Publisher: Harwell/Lewis Publishing Company, 2003

ASIN: B004NO4F14

Language level: 1

(1=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

Recommended reading level: Teens and adults

Rating: ***** 5 stars

(5 stars=EXCELLENT; 4 stars=GOOD; 3 stars=FAIR; 2 stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)

Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

Disclosure:  Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion.  Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library.  No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com

Website: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com

Bowman, Dee.  It’s All About the People (Published in 2003 by Harwell/Lewis Publishing Company, P.O. Box 3385, Lakeland, FL  33802).  This book consists of 21 biographical vignettes of people whom author Dee Bowman has met—first as a singer and entertainer with his brothers; then as a radio and TV personality; and finally, over the last quarter century, as a widely-used preacher of the gospel—which Dee uses to teach practical lessons about life.  Some of the individuals are fairly well known—“Happy” Chandler, Don Gibson, Minnie Pearl, Johnny Mathis, President Ronald Reagan, Stan Kenton, and Muhammad Ali.  Others are less famous but bear a special relationship to Dee—his father, two of his brothers, some of his teachers, and a couple of fellow students among them.  A few even fall into my realm of acquaintances—i.e., “The Guys” (Brent Lewis, Ed Harrell, Sewell Hall, and Paul Earnhart).

Dee Bowman, who was co-editor of Christianity Magazine for fourteen years, has always maintained a remarkable rapport with people throughout his life.  Brent Lewis wrote in his Foreword, “Dee Bowman likes people.  They like him back….This book is about some of the people who have touched his life.  As Dee recalls his life’s events, he shares with us certain lessons learned from these acquaintances and then makes a practical application from which every reader can benefit.  Dee himself says in his Introduction, “This is a book about people….We are all, to some considerable extent, products of where we’ve been and what we’ve done, but especially are we the products of those whom we’ve known.  Influence is such a part of our lives.”  I’ve never read a book by Dee that I didn’t like.  I think that you’ll like this one too.