“MY EXPERIENCE:
…I appreciated the way that rabbits are used as anthropomorphic representations, perhaps softening this jarring subject matter. The gouache and pencil drawings are child-like and effectively portray the wide-range of emotions that Elliot feels throughout the course of the hectic back-and-forth of his journey from birth family to foster family and back and forth again until he is placed in his ‘forever home’. I think this is a powerful book about a difficult subject that is an important read-aloud to those kids who are going through similar circumstances as well as any child who knows someone who is being fostered.
LIKES:
- sensitive discussion/presentation at a kid-friendly level of a very difficult topic
- focus is on Elliot’s emotions and blame or judgement is not placed on birth parents
- illustrations are sensitive, gentle, yet effectively explore the range of emotions this journey evokes…
WHY/HOW USE IT WITH KIDS:
- …excellent read-aloud with children who have friends or classmates who are being fostered to help them understand what may be going on with their peers and what ‘foster care’ means”
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