We just got Odie the Stray Kitten and Odie's Best Friend for review. These books were written by Kristen Mott, and illustrated by Lowell Hildebrandt.
Eli read Odie the Stray Kitten
to the girls while I took pictures. 
It's a sweet little story, but I want to caution adoptive parents. There are abandonment themes in both books.
In the first book, Odie loses his mother, brothers, and sisters in the cold, snowy woods. He eventually finds a farm with a warm barn, and is welcomed by a girl and her cat, Bandit.
The second book, Odie's Best Friend
, tells the story of how Bandit came to be at the farm where Odie ended up. 
Hannah and I took turns reading this aloud (a page for you, a page for me). She's a second grader, and the reading level was perfect for her.
Bandit's story is very sad. He starts as a kitten with an owner that he loves.
Then the girl's family has to move, and cannot take the cat. Bandit ends up at an animal shelter.
Which had some uncomfortable parallels to an orphanage. And it gets worse. The family that adopts Bandit from the shelter takes good care of him, but "doesn't love him," so he runs away. Not the message I want to be sending my girls.
Eventually, Bandit finds a new home, and learns to trust again, and guess what? More loss. The woman moves away and leaves him. I cannot in good conscience recommend the second book to adoptive families. Other families might enjoy the whimsical drawings and see the eventual friendship of the two cats as a happily ever after story, but for kids from hard places, I'm afraid the take away is, "Don't get too comfortable, because life has a way of yanking the rug out from under you again and again." Our kids don't need to be reminded of that.
I wanted to like these books, I really did. I just don't think they're a good choice for adopted children.
You can connect with author Kristen Mott through her blog, Facebook, or Twitter.
It sounds like these stories really had some sad themes!
ReplyDeleteThey were. The second one much moreso than the first.
DeleteThanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to see other adoptive families blindsided like we were.
DeleteI really appreciate the honest review! Sounds like some themes we should avoid in our house.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good reminder that not every children's book is appropriate for every family.
DeleteThanks for the insight. I really appreciate it. Candid is good.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for posting a negative review, but this was our honest experience.
DeleteMy daughter would find all the loss to be tragic and quite honestly, I don't believe that it's necessary for young children to read about that. Life doesn't always turn out perfectly or happy and that's fine. I embrace the chance to talk to my kids about it but that's a lot of loss for kids to process.
ReplyDeleteAs for the adoption association, while you might make the association, your children may not. At all. Having said that, as their Mother, you know best.
Personally, I would avoid the book and that has nothing to do with adoption (my kids aren't but I am adopted).
Your family is beautiful.
Besos Sarah
Journeys of The Zoo
That's a good point. Losses come up enough in life, without needing to manufacture more of them.
DeleteThank you. I think they're pretty cute, but I admit I'm biased. ;)