Customer Reviews

Callie and the Stepmother

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 7-year-old daughter and I really loved this book even though we aren't from a blended family. The author really captured how a young child thinks. The way Callie draws her fears from the fairy tales she loves is both touching and realistic. The resolution is also satisfying without being sticky sweet. This is a great book to talk with your child about fears, feelings and the differences between what happens in stories and the real world. Highly recommended!

Callie has heard all the stories about stepmothers. She is well aware of the evil ways of these women due to hearing all about Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White. Now, gulp, she will have one of her own, and her Dad is going out of town in his truck. She will have to stay with her new family.

Pam, the stepmother, doesn't look evil, or even sound that way, but Callie knows it is only a matter of time before she will be locked in the attic, forced to clean the fireplace and be fed poison. It doesn't help that her older, possibly wicked, stepsister resents having to share her room with the little girl.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a sweet story about separating reality from fairy tales. The book would be fun for children in primary grades, especially those in a blended family.

This story would make an excellent discussion starter for a class on prejudice as well as blended families since it talks about how Callie thought her stepmother would be based on her "knowledge" of stepmothers. An excellent book for any child who likes surprise endings as well.

Title: . Callie and the Stepmother

Absorbing Read ..... Recommended ... 5 stars

The Review
Callie and the Stepmother opens as Callie is hugging her dad goodbye. Dad drives a truck, and Callie must stay home with her new stepmother Pam. Everyone knows stepmothers are evil and do bad things when your dad is away. To make matters even worse Callie also has a new fourteen-year-old stepsister. To make matters even worse again Andrea doesn't like Callie and doesn't want to share her room with Callie. Callie knows it is going to be a long two days before dad returns.

Callie and the Stepmother is writer Meyers' first children's chapter book. The work is an outgrowth of the writers' bedtime stories she made up for her son when he was younger. The book offers a list of illustrations, table of contents and chapters meant to be enjoyed by middle grade readers. The tale will lend itself to use as a `read to' for the younger set, while vocabulary used is within the reading scope of most 9 - 12 year olds. Illustrations provided by artist Rose Gauss set the written word off to perfection.

The misconception children often harbor regarding what is real and what is storybook is often blurred at best. Meyers' Callie and the Stepmother takes those misconceptions, adds a likeable little girl Callie, a patient stepmother and a typical older step sibling and manages to meld them all into an interesting, entertaining, readable work.

Excellent resource reading suggestion for the child therapists shelf, the home pleasure reading library, the blended home library, home school and classroom reading corner.

This is a book I would use in my own classroom for a unit on family, understanding and working through fear and misunderstand.

Enjoyed the read, happy to recommend.

Reviewed by: molly martin

20+ years California classroom teacher