Always Be Us Three by Natalie Finnigan

 

 

A review by Teddy O'Malley

 

Normally, I let Destiny do all the reviews. This is her blog, after all. But I wanted to review this one, because the book touches a subject that I've been personally affected by. Explaining divorce or separation to a child.

 

This book and the parent doing the explaining will make a great team as it's written in simple, rhyming language in Natalie Finnigan's very unique style.

 

We've actually interviewed Natalie on our blog a few weeks ago and you can read our interview with her here.

 

I'm excited that Natalie dared to go there, because this book is much needed for many reasons. The most important being that separation is confusing and scary to a small child.

 

Natalie's book reminds the child that both parents will always love them and be there for them. Nothing the child did is responsible for the break-up.

 

 

Excerpt from the story

 

"Your daddy loves you very much and, yes, I love you too. And we want to be the very best that we can be for you."

 

The book also touches on some more tense moments of parents separating, such as the fighting that often comes before the actual split.

 

Natalie's witty rhyming explanation takes a friendly and un-scary approach and most importantly, reminds the child that they are loved.

 

Teddy

 



Shelby Loves Candy by Ryann Adams Hall - Destiny's review

This book is too sweet to eat!

Olive loves candy. Faith loves candy. I love candy. Who doesn't love candy? But there's one little girl that loves candy more than the rest of us. Her name is Shelby. Shelby Loves Candy is not only sweet and colourful, it's educational as well!

Shelby would eat candy all day and all night if she could but there are some very important things she has to do if she wants to keep eating candy. One of those things is to look after her teeth.

And what if all the candy in the world runs out? What will Shelby do then? You'll just have to read it and find out.

Ryann Adams Hall did an excellent job capturing not just one child's (but most children's) love of candy. Her writing is fun and upbeat. The text is short and simple. This would be an easy one for a little kid to read alone. But it's a lot of fun together!

Ryann's story could be used for many educational topics. It could be used as a teaching tool regarding how not to let your obsessions get out of control (in Shelby's case, candy) and brushing your teeth, and healthy snacking.

Inga Shalvashvili has captured the story's colourfulness in the illustrations. Shelby is a very cute and endearing character.

This book is top shelf!