Customer Reviews

Lucy's Family Tree

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This book speaks to the thoughts and concerns of an adopted child and acknowledges the loss and feelings of being different that many adopted children experience at different points in their lives. These feelings are addressed in a way that helps childen to see that each family is different in some way and respects the variety and diversity of all families. While addressing those differences, it also reinforces the bond and love between Lucy and her adoptive parents.

This book gives practical advice about how to handle the family tree assignment that is common in many classrooms and can be challenging for adoptive families. This assignment is handled in a way that provides the child with a sense of self-esteem by recognizing and incorporating Lucy's cultural background and the importance of birthparents as a part of the identity of an adopted child.

Parents reading this book will be reminded of the importance of respecting a child's privacy, especially a young teen. Lucy's parents exhibit a parenting style that encourages self-esteem and empowers Lucy to solve her problem in a way that is right for her. They respond with respect, concern, and interest in their child's feelings and needs, but do not pretend to know all the answers or make excuses.

Lucy's family tree is very well written and provides life lessons for children and parents. As adoption professionals, we recommend this book for adoptive families, but more importantly, for all families who wnat to learn about dealing with feeling different and helping older children solve their problems.

Lucy's Family Tree is an excellent book for mid to older primary age children (8 - 11 year olds) who feel "different" for any reason. It is unique to find a picture book that speaks at an emotional level to older children. Lucy is adopted and through a homework assignment she learns about the wonderful breadth of what "family" can be. Specific activities are included at the end of the book that provide concrete ideas to support children who are adopted as well as children who feel their family is somehow different from everyone elses. This book addresses topics such as culture, ethnicity, and all sorts of nontraditional families. I believe this book is not only a tender story but is an educational experience as well. It would be useful for child therapists, children in adoptive and nontraditional families, and as a book read aloud in the classroom (because of the student discussions that will naturally emerge). Lucy's Family tree has a lot to teach us, and it reminds us how all children desire to simply be loved and belong. Halvorsen Schreck's story does just this.

Looking for a book for my 5 year old adopted child. This book is not it. I would not recommend.

Have you ever done a family tree? Lucy comes home from school with the assignment to make a family tree for class. However, there is a problem because she was an adopted child from Mexico and feels that her family background is too complicated for her to make a family tree because it makes her too "different." Her parents challenge her to find three families that are "the same." So Lucy investigates her friends and her parents' friends. Lucinda Knapp has a stay-at-home father and a bread-winning mother. Benjamin and Natalie's family is Jewish, which is not typical in that neighborhood. The Keaton children have a step-father. And the Malones are still dealing with the loss of a daughter who was hit by a car.
Can Lucy find a family that is "normal"? And what sort of family tree will she be able to devise? There is much to like about this book. As the parents of two adopted sons, one part Filipino and the other part Japanese, my wife and I have had to deal with some of the same issues raised by this story. It is true that in today's society families come in all shapes and sizes. It is also true that children simply have no control over what their families might look like. We should certainly strive to be sensitive to their needs. In the back there are a couple of pages on "Rethinking a Family Tree Project" with suggestions to teachers about different approaches in which no child will feel denigrated, denied, or overlooked in any way, along with some further resources on the subject.