The Bluestocking Guide review

The Bluestocking Guide
December 3, 2010

Red in the Flower Bed
by Brooke Bonett

This little book helps children understand adoption, particularly interracial adoption. The story is about a little poppy seed that is sent away to grow and bloom away from it "mother" because it is better for the little seed.

It was a very cute story. I liked the message that having diversity in the family life is a good thing.

I don’t have any children of my own, but if I did I would definitely use this book to teach them about adoption, particularly if I was doing an interracial adoption or I know someone who was doing an interracial adoption. I think a child will be able to grasp the concepts in this book quite easily.

Actually even if you aren’t considering adoption, I think this is an excellent primer for teaching children that racial diversity is a good thing.

But that’s me.

LovLivLife Reviews

LovLivLife Reviews
December 2, 2010

Book Tour: Red in the Flower Bed by Andrea Nepa
by Chasity

Red in the Flower Bed marks two firsts for me. 1.) The first childrens title I've read on Kindle and online 2.) Experiencing the unique illustration style.

The first is just about self-explanatory. I will say that Online vs. Kindle (black and white)- Online wins hands down but a physical copy is always ideal.

Two, the illustrations are a treasure. Why? As a mom I try to tell my children stories from scratch. Scratch meaning no books just my own creation told orally with voice fluctuation, hand gestures, etc. Be it a true memory, complete fiction or a mix of the two. The purpose is to have my daughters exercise their imagination. I want them to dream up on their own.

Red in the Flower Bed's illustrations are a simple treat and reinforces what I'm trying to instill by orally telling stories. The illustrations are just enough to attract/engage attention but gave my daughters freedom to generate their own thoughts. They were not bombarded with too much happenings on the page- not that plentiful is bad but a nice mix of book types is sure to please. The illustration style is a combination of scrap-booking and arts & crafts. Overall, one of the main highlight of this book.

Then there is the moral of this story which is mentioned above: Interracial adoption. Loving and embracing diversity. At the end of the story I ask my girls: "What would be more dazzling? A garden with only blue flowers or a garden with all sorts of colors?" I mentioned a few local gardens in our area and spoke about different flowers and what's so special about each one. Since my girls are comprehensive and inquisitive taking the discussion to the next level and talking about how it relates to people was a great extension. I suggest if your child is young just a brief mention of the moral or just sticking to the garden will serve as an introduction that can later be built upon.

Red in the Flower Bed not only has a valuable message that we must share with our little ones but it also has a number of extensions that I am able to implement to either extend the moral of the story, learn about plant growth or just have fun. Which we did have fun. My 6 yo daughter made this drawing:



All in all, I found this poem book with illustrations a delight. The poem is easy to pick up on that the second and third time reading through my children were recalling from memory the sentence endings.

Thank you to Tribute Books for the opportunity to review this title and be apart of the book tour. The pleasure was all mine and my girls.

Purchase this book:
Amazon / Smashwords / Tribute Books / Barnes&Noble.com

Forever, For Always, No Matter What Review

Forever, For Always, No Matter What
December 2, 2010

Red in the Flower Bed
by Jennifer Dunlap

We were asked to participate in a blog hop for the review of a new adoption book from Tribute Books. The book is called Red in the Flower Bed and is written by an adoptive mom. I happen to personally enjoy reading books to my children that rhyme and this book is a fun read. Not only is it fun, it has an important message. It doesn't hit the reader over the head with adoption language, which can be a nice change of pace. However the adoption theme is obvious in a gentle way.

I think my two favorite parts are in the beginning when the the poppy is sad to see the seed leave and at the end when the daisy says "best of all, look down the row, we now have a complete rainbow" so fitting for our family! We always enjoy a book that opens up adoption discussion in a positive way.

This book would be a welcome addition to any adoptive family's library. For more information on how to add this book to your home or to give as a gift please visit Red in the Flower Bed as well as Tribute Books

Thrifty Mamma's Brain Food Review

Thrifty Mamma's Brain Food
December 2, 2010

Red in the Flower Bed: An Interracial Adoption Story and Blog Tour
by Paula Schuck

Red In The Flower Bed is a sweet, imaginative and yet simple twist on a child's adoption story. I am an adoptive parent of two children, an adoption advocate, speaker and writer and our home library is more than full of books that are for all ages and stages of the adoption journey. But, this one had a new twist I'd not yet seen which is why I recommend it.

Andrea Nepa has taken a seed as a metaphor and while that might seem logical and simplistic, I haven't actually seen it used in this manner. The seed is a lovely metaphor for an adopted child. While this book specifically tackles interracial adoption, I felt it missed the marketing mark here and limited itself. If you look at this as a story of any adoptee, it makes sense and appeals to a wider audience in my opinion. The child is like the seed of a poppy here, blowing in the wind, carried to a different pasture. The pasture is an obvious reference to the family created by adoption.

This story is aimed at 3 to 6 years olds and is reliant on rhyme and cute cutout style pictures. "So there among the violet, rose and marigold the little black dot settled into her spot." What a surprise she will be when she blooms and is a bright red poppy in a field of predictable colours.

Red In the Flower Bed is a nice addition to anyone's adoption library. It is a gentle, sensitive story. Red in The Flower Bed is a nice alternative to the many animal metaphors and characters that are often used to explore themes of differences and adoption in children's fiction. This story is clever and a good way to work the topic of adoption onto your bookshelf and into your child's life.

One Upon A Twilight Review

Once Upon A Twilight
December 1, 2010

Red in the Flower Bed Book Review
by Yara Santos

Red in the Flower Bed is a very cute and colorful book! It is a great example of acceptance and loving people for who they are, which is something that is very important in the world today. The plot is great, especially the part where the plant drops the seed and the wind carries it to a place where it will be able to grow. I thought that was very interesting.

I also loved the beautiful illustrations and I think kids would enjoy them as well because they help you to visualize the story even more. However, one thing I thought that could be added was a picture to symbolize the part of the story where they talk about the Sweet Pea Blossoms and Zinnias. Overall, I really enjoyed this book

Imprisoned in My Bones review

Imprisoned in My Bones
December 1, 2010

Red in the Flower Bed Blog Tour
by Anne Bender

Andrea Nepa has written a book for children about the joys of inter-racial adoption based on her experience of having adopted a daughter from Vietnam. When Nicole at Tribute Books approached me about writing a review of “Red in the Flower Bed” and told me the subject matter of the book, I jumped at the chance. My sister and her husband had adopted two beautiful and amazing bi-racial children over 20 years ago and I have seen first hand both the struggles and the joys she experienced in raising children who look different from their parents.

The story line of “Red in the Flower Bed” was a very simple rhyme and the artwork consisted of a colorful scrapbook theme, which happens to be my favorite kind of art in children's books because it looks like something that children could create themselves.

The story follows a poppy seed as it falls from the center of the flower and floats away in the wind to find a home in a garden bed filled with a large variety of colorful flowers. What I especially loved about this story was that the subject matter was very subtle; if I hadn’t known ahead of time that this story was a portrayal of inter-racial adoption, I would not have picked up on the clues. So often children's books that are written to support a cause or to teach a lesson, up being technical and preachy and the children for whom they are written become disinterested, and the parents reading these type of books often dislike the story. However, “Red in the Flower Bed” was not preachy or technical at all, it was just a simple and charming story that both children and parents are bound to enjoy and could lead to many loving discussions about bi-racial adoption.

My thanks to Nicole for this opportunity to review “Red in the Flower Bed!”

Blog Tour Schedule

		Blog Tour for Red in the Flower Bed: An Illustrated Children's Story about Interracial Adoption December 1 Imprisoned in My Bones and Once Upon a Twilight December 2 Forever, For Always, No Matter What and LovLivLife Reviews and Thrifty Momma's Brain Food December 3 The Bluestocking Guide and A Catholic Mother's Thoughts and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer December 4 Bookingly Yours and Freebie Spot and Literary R&R December 5 Super Mommy to the Rescue December 6 In the Pages and The Story of a Writer December 7 China Adopt Talk and Come Meet AusJenny and Eskimo Kisses and Air Hugs December 8 A Fanatic's Book Blog December 9 The Apple Cider Mill and Life...with Books and Lord, Make Me a Saint December 10 Catholic Mommy Brain and OneDesertRose December 11 Day by Day in Our World and Mental Foodie December 12 A Page Turner 4 U and Saving Obsession December 13 The Freebie Junkie and Melanie's Musings and Writing from the Tub December 14 Hope. Dreams. Life... Love and Palace of Twelve Pillars and Winterpast Family December 15 Cynthia's Attic and Flying Off the Shelves and Voices for Life December 16 Spiritual Woman and Susan Heim on Parenting December 17 Manga Maniac Cafe and TicToc and The True Book Addict December 18 Books, Books, The Magical Fruit and The One True Faith December 19 The Missionary Mama December 20 Passionate Children's Servant and Write for a Reader December 21 The Children's and Teens' Book Connection December 22 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers December 23 4 the Love of Books December 24 The Book Bee December 25 Future Catholic and Nayu's Reading Corner December 26 Proud Book Nerd December 27 Putting Words Down on Paper (review) December 28 MotherLode and Sober Catholic December 29 Putting Words Down on Paper (interview) December 30 The Handmaden December 31 Magisterium for the Masses Previously posted Grown in My Heart and Reading for Sanity