I was very excited when I received the opportunity to review this. As my avid followers know (all two of you) I divorced over a year ago and am currently in a relationship with a wonderful guy who lives with myself and my children. As I can't be inside my kids' heads, I am often curious about the things they don't tell me that they are feeling. I have to say, they have taken the whole thing very well and still come across as happy, healthy children!
Anyway, so this book is written so that children in the middle of a divorce can understand what it means when their parent has moved on and settled down with a new person. In this case, it was the dad finding a new wife who became the children's "bonus mom." I absolutely love how the subject was handled, very tastefully with a child's feelings in mind.
The writing was in verse and it flowed extremely well. It was great listening to David (my kids' "bonus dad") read this to them. They listened intently and when it was over, A told David that he was her bonus dad.
Here are a couple of my favorite verses: "I felt kind of angry/I felt really sad,/What was the trouble/With Mom and with Dad?"... "Sometimes Moms and Dads/Just can't get along/But it's nothing about/The kids doing wrong."... "She won't replace Mommy/But she'll be my wife/Let's call it a 'Bonus'/That she's in our life."... "And at the end of the day/If you think it all through/Bonus Moms, Bonus Dads/Means more love for YOU!"
I definitely recommend reading this book to your children if they are in a situation where one of the parents is remarrying or in a committed relationship. Although this book is very idealistic, it is unfortunate that I don't think you will find too many divorced parents who are as caring as the ones in this book. It would be great if everyone could make life easier for their children, but most people are too selfish to care.
However, the author of this book does a fantastic job and I think this would mean a lot for either a parent or a "bonus" parent to read it to them. Divorce is a very confusing time.
MOTR Grade: B+
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