Review: Red in the Flower Bed by Andrea Nepa
by Jenners • 12/08/2010 • 4 Stars, Children's Books, N Authors, R Titles • 45 Comments
Red in the Flower Bed by Andrea NepaPublisher: Tribute Books, 2008
Pages: 28
Genre: Children’s Books
My Rating: 4 stars
Red in The Flower Bed is a children’s book that takes on a difficult topic—interracial adoption—and manages to explain it simply and beautifully. Although I haven’t dealt with this topic personally, I imagine that this type of book would be a godsend to parents who have adopted a child from another ethnicity who are beginning to be ask questions like “Why do I look different from you?” Although the focus is on interracial adoption, I think the book could work for talking to any adopted child.
Using a gardening analogy to illustrate adoption, Nepa’s simple story is easy for any child to understand and relate to their lives. The story starts with a seed dropping from a bright red poppy flower. Unfortunately, the soil is too dry for the seed to grow so the wind takes it “from east to west” until the little seed is dropped into a garden. The other flowers are excited to see what the little seed will grow up to be. When the seed finally blooms, she is a bright red poppy flower. Looking at the other flowers, she sees zinnias, snapdragons, pea blossoms and more. Then a daisy points out how the addition of the red poppy helped to make a complete rainbow in the garden. The story is told in short rhymes and is accompanied by brightly colored and patterned illustrations that look like they were made by layering paper.
I thought the garden analogy was a wonderful way to explain the concept of interracial adoption. It is non-threatening, easy to understand and yet manages to convey several important messages:
- Seeds/children need the right environment in which to grow and finding that environment might require a seed/child to travel to another place.
- Gardens/families can be made up of flowers/people of all colors, shapes and sizes.
Perhaps the best way to appreciate the gentle tone and feel of the book is to share some of its pages.
The wind takes the seed from east to west ...
... until the seed settles in a flower bed.
The poppy (at upper left) settled in her colorful new home.
My Final Recommendation
Andrea Nepa and her daughter Leah
I think this book is a wonderful way to introduce the concept of adoption to young children who are curious about adoption or why they may look different from their family members. The message of the book is simple but powerful: children need to find the right place to grow and flourish. The analogy of a poppy seed growing up in a colorful garden with many different types of flowers further illustrates the idea of diversity in families. The gentle tone and soothing color palette of the book help make the ideas and concepts non-threatening and easy to understand. If you or someone you know is looking for a children’s book to help start a discussion about adoption, I think this book would be a wonderful starting point.
About the Author
Andrea Nepa is the mother of an adopted Vietnamese daughter named Leah. In 2001, Adoptions from the Heart assisted with the international adoption. Andrea dedicated her book to her daughter: “For my dear Leah, whose journey in her young life has already taken her to far away and unexpected places.” In 2006, Leah was diagnosed with cancer. She is currently in remission. Andrea lives with Leah and her husband, David, in Haddonfield, New Jersey. She is a registered dietitian for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
My thanks to Tribute Books for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour for this book.
Thank you very much for reviewing my book.
I am so appreciative of all of the comments from your blog readers.
If anyone would like to contact me directly, you can reach me at andreanepa@tribute-books.com
Thank you for stopping by to visit. Your book was wonderful, and I was surprised how many of “my readers” were personally affected by adoption (interracial or otherwise). Best of luck to you with the book.
Thank you Jenners for your support and that of your blog readers – it means the world to me.
Thanks! for the great review
This looks and sounds like a lovely book.
The pages you included are gorgeous and I’m adding this my library list!
I’d love to see it in person … I only saw a PDF version. I bet it is even more vibrant in real life.
Oh this looks beautiful! We have a lot of adoption in our family both interracial and non. This sounds like a good one for many families, regardless of the make up. Thanks for sharing!
It is good to hear feedback from people who have adoption in their families. Thanks for sharing your input.
What a wonderful sounding book! Such a beautiful analogy!
This sounds so sweet. I love the look of those pages and the analogy of the poppy seed.
Great review
What a wonderful concept for a book!
It is sweet isn’t it?
beautiful book, pages, words, description and topic. i think it sounds like a must-read for any parent to help their kids learn about families and how to show only kindness for each other, you know? thank you. truly.
I agree … I think it could be of benefit to any family (not just ones with adopted children).
i know! i’m ordering it! never mind that hanukkah is over and my kids’ bookshelves are over-flowing. i’m such a sucker for books. and diversity. and things that are pretty. and…okay- i’ll stop now.
My Achille’s heel is books too … I can never refuse a child a book.
First of all, I’ve missed you while I’ve been away.
Secondly, I love the look of the blog. Nice.
Third, I adore children’s book and I love how the pages of this one look. Beautiful.
First, I’ve missed you too.
Second, thanks for the input. As you’ve noticed, I’m always changing things around.
Third, it is a lovely little book! : )
I know that this book would be a wonderful read for my spirit. Thanks for the great review Jenners. You always point out good books for me to take on. Love the idea of the poppy seed to start the conversation.
Isn’t it such an appealing book? I’m just so drawn to the colors and textures.
This sounds (and looks) like a clever little book! I have a friend who adopted a Korean baby years ago and I’m sure she would have appreciated having this at the time.
I’m learning through the comments that so many people have families touched by adoption. This book is a great little resource.
Jenners – thank you so much for sharing RED IN THE FLOWER BED with the readers of Life … With Books. It’s great to read all of the wonderful comments and see how people are responding to the book. Andrea will be most grateful for all of the feedback. And yes, Leah is in remission and doing fantastic – she’ll be participating in a Christmas concert with her cello at a local Barnes & Noble this weekend.
Best wishes,
Nicole
Tribute Books
P.S. Jenners, I love the photos in your blog header – well done!
Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this tour. It really is a wonderful book. And thank you for the update on Leah … it is good to hear that she is doing well!
This sounds like a really useful book, and I love all those examples you included! I have a friend from Brazil that adopted a little boy from somewhere in Central America (can’t remember where offhand) and he’s much darker-skinned than the rest of the family. In Texas, that’s not a big deal because there are lots of hispanic people here and skin varies in color throughout each family, but it still might be interesting to show her this book.
I thought it was such a charming book and a great way to explain adoption to young children. Give the link to your friend … there are excerpts at the Tribute Book web site.
This does sound like a really interesting and thoughtful way to introduce this concept to a young child, and I just love the colorfulness of all the illustrations! What a great find this book is! Did you read it to your son?
I fell in love with the illustrations too. And I didn’t read it with my son … yet. I think it would be neat to share it with him though!
it sounds like a lovely book, both in appearance in message. speaking as one whose family has been incredibly blessed by adoption, I know what an importnat topic it is.
And snowflakes…decorating the blog…have you not learned your lesson?
I’m so glad to hear such positive thoughts from people who have been touched by adoption. : )
And I decided to forgo the snowflakes falling on the blog, as I’m sure it will lead to a major crash and I’m still recovering from the link fiasco of last weekend.
You amaze me. Where do you find the time for all the reading you do? Enjoyed the review. Enjoyed seeing your new look more. Great pictures of you, btw.
If you ask my husband, I find time for all this reading by NOT cleaning the house! ; )
This looks like a woderful book and a great resource to have for schools as well as home.
Good point about using it as a resource at schools. I imagine this is a topic that might come up from time to time.
This sounds like a beautiful book. Adoption is close to my heart as my grandmother was adopted as well as one of my cousins. This sounds like a perfect way to open a discussion about adoption. I love the way the pages were created. It’s very unique.
By the way, I love your new header! The pictures are great, and I love how they’re divided by books.
Isn’t the look of the book lovely? It has such a wonderful “homemade” quality that I find appealing.
I was so sad to hear that Leah has cancer…. .thank goodness she is in remission. As the mother of two kids via interracial adoption, I can say that this book looks like a delightful way to talk about looking different … especially for younger kids.
I’m so glad to hear your thoughts on this book since you have personal experience with this topic.
Oh this is a wonderful book inside and out. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Love your holiday look
It is a wonderful sweet book.
And I love decorating my blog for the holidays. My dream is to somehow have snowflakes falling the background but haven’t figured that out!
Oh I LOVE the pages! There’s something about Red in titles of books, I read someone else’s post yesterday about Ann’s Red Dress or something, lol. Maybe Red is my lucky color this week.
Too bad there isn’t a color lottery! : )
Thank you for the review, I enjoyed reading it; and you wrote it so well.
To adopt a child is a romance of parenting, as a love for a vulnerable young child is worthy of motherly protection in all of her attributes of care and consideration.
Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.
What a lovely comment. Thanks for sharing.