Thursday, May 11, 2017

One to Ten: Squirrel's Bad Day by Carole P. Roman & illustrated by Mateya Arkova [Review & Giveaway]

My thoughts: Prolific author Carole P. Roman has turned her attention from stories and journeys around the world to that of counseling and a scale of one to ten that children can use to rate hurts and disappointments in life. The illustrations by Bulgarian Mateya Arkova, who has previously illustrated several of Roman's books, are quite lively and colorful. Using water colors and a whimsical style of cute forest animals with bright, bold eyes she has squirrel being counseled by rabbit and bringing the entirety of forest critters into the group therapy.

Squirrel is traipsing along the forest with an armload of acorns and he trips spilling them into a stream where they get completely away from him. Squirrel being saddened by this loss is comforted by rabbit and then rabbit proceeds to use a system of rating a hurt or disappointment from one to ten as a means of identifying the gravity of an event.

The text is really thin which I find unusual for a children's book and the depth of thought and amount of text in the story somewhat beyond what I perceive as the intended age group for this picture book. It is doable, just different.The examples to be rated on the one to ten scale included  death of a loved on and also separation or divorce of parents. These are, naturally, rated upward to the 10 level. The concept of helping a child understand that some things definitely are worse than others and learning to cope with varying degrees of hurt and disappointment is needed and perhaps Roman's book is a great beginning.

About the book: Squirrel is running along a tree limb when she trips, losing all her acorns into the rushing water of the river below. Angry and frustrated, she doesn't know what to do. Her good friend, Rabbit, lends both a sympathetic ear as well as a solution. Rather than get angry, Rabbit tells her, rate the problem on a scale of one-to-ten. By identifying and realizing the true importance of the issue, the issue may not seem so overwhelming. Adorable forest creatures help the sad squirrel put everything into perspective so he does not to get stuck in a rut over something that may not be a big deal after all.

GIVEAWAY

3 winners chosen to receive 1 copy each
Begins May 12
Ends May 26 @ 12:01 a.m. EDT
Open to USA addresses only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from the author to facilitate this review of my own opinions. I was not compensated. Winner's copy is provided directly to the winner by the author.

9 comments:

  1. 1) It depends upon the problem. I'm there for him, encouraging and lift him to the Lord.

    2) I don't remember any particular problem, but I know my Mother was always there for me.

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  2. Having all girls was definitely a trip!!
    I don't want to get into specifics! But both dealt with some heavy trauma! We stood by them through court dates, etc.! As their mom, it was very hard for me not to do them bodily harm!! No one hurts my babies!!

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  3. (1) How do you help your child cope with varying levels of hurt and disappointment? We talk thru the issue and see why it is hurting her and who it can be changed.
    2) What is the greated hurt or disappointment you (as a child) or your child has had to cope with? She is not good at sports and was always picked last. We just worked on self-esteem and her running ability.

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  4. (1) We are there for them, talk through it, change what we can to make things better and keep them positive and busy to keep their minds off of things.

    2) Being tiny and small built was always hard. I concentrated on being good at things that didn't matter what size you were, had the support of friends and family and stayed positive.

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  6. 1. We talk to them and let them know that they can tell us anything and that we're here for them.

    2. The greatest hurt/disappointment was struggling academically in school. We worked with her a lot and she ended up doing great. :)

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  7. I know that as a child I struggled to maintain a sense of balance - any bad thing that happened could rock me to my very foundations. It really helped to learn to step back and keep a sense of perspective - not everything is the end of the world, after all!

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  8. (1) How do you help your child cope with varying levels of hurt and disappointment? We talk to each child and discuss what is bothering them. We ask them what do they think can fix it and give advice. We let them know they can tell us anything and we will always love them.
    2) What is the greatest hurt or disappointment you (as a child) or your child has had to cope with? For me, it was child abuse from my father. Time helps heal and talking to someone that is outside of the situation.

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  9. I didn't realize Carole had tackled a new topic. Her books are always lovely! Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com this week!
    Tina

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