One of the best parts about working at a parenting magazine is meeting other parents. During the photo shoot for our June cover, I had the pleasure of chatting with Amy J. Alderson, mom to CoverKid Cooper (who's just as delightfully precocious as his picture suggests, by the way).
Amy told me that she'd written Who Am I? What Are You? a children's picture book about a topic close to my heart, blended families. Like the kids in the book, I grew up with three sets of grandparents. the same number my kids have enjoyed, and we're a family with mixed traditions and our own special way of celebrating them. So I'm just the right audience for Amy's story, a gentle rhyme about kids embracing the various cultures, religions and birth sources (including adoption) in their family tree. The slim volume, with illustrations by Casey R. Seidler, urges kids with a blended background to fully celebrate the diversity of their roots.
"Come with me and climb my tree. Learn about the special people in my family," Alderson begins. Pop-pop's got a beach house, Grand-pop likes to golf. Bubby and Nona serve up spaghetti and matzo ball soup side by side. The result? "Experiencing differences makes my life fun." In the end, Amy's book gives kids the confidence to respect themselves, which in turn allows them to respect others.
Find out more about Who Am I? What Are You? on the book's Facebook page. And thanks, Amy, for sharing your story (and your adorable son) with MetroKids.
