Customer Reviews

Our Twitchy

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

 

 

Some of the previous reviews criticize how this book is bad at being an adoption story, but that is not this book's ONLY purpose. It has a lovely, feel-good thing about it, and a book--especially one for children who can really not comprehend--doesn't have to make sense to be fun and receive good reviews. This hearty tale is a tale one will enjoy reading several times over, for even though some say it serves no purpose as an adoption story, it is a lovely, slightly wacky story that makes everyone feel great. Sometimes something is below average until you look at it from a different point of view, and this book, by most of the negative reviewers, is misunderstood, and is delightful in every way.

We checked this book out from the library because the cover was cute.

We were terrifically surprised as my daughter read the book to us. As we turned the page and saw that the bunny's parents were a cow (wearing a flowered hat) and a horse we laughed and laughed and laughed. It's a heartwarming story about a bunny and his nontraditional parents that is also very funny.

As a book to teach about adoption I'm sure there are better books. As a book that will make your child giggle and want to give you a hug it's a terrific book with a wonderful happy ending. The artistry in the illustrations is fantastic and the pictures are so nicely painted that we paused and looked at the pictures and the painting techniques before reading each page.

The reading level is right around the second grade level and it has some nice vocabulary. It's a good book for a young reader to enjoy reading to his or her parents with a few new vocabulary words for them to learn.

We love Twichy!

Our Twitchy, written by Kes Gray and illustrated by Mary McQuillan, is an absolutely adorable new picture book which I cannot recommend enough. The pictures are bright and eye-catching. The story is well-paced and well-done. It explains adoption to young children in a simple and loving way.

(Be forewarned, because this review is going to give away exactly who adopts Twitchy.)

Twitchy is a cute baby rabbit whose parents tell him that he is adopted. Prior to this revelation, he thought nothing of his mother being a cow and his father being a horse. The parents explain how his "bunnymom and bunnypop" had many children (sixteen, to be exact) so they (the cow and horse) took him in and raised him in a house full of love.

Initially, Twitchy does not believe them. When he looks at his parents' reflections in the water alongside his own, he sees the similarities - like their big brown eyes - and not their differences. Confused, Twitchy runs away. The parents search high and low for the little rabbit.

Finally, they hear something making soft "moo" and "neigh" sounds. They discover their son in an unusual state. Twitchy has attempted to look more like his farmyard parents by putting mud on his white fur to make it white, using clothespins on his floppy ears to make them small and folded, and attaching a twig to his tail.

The adults clean Twitchy up and tell him that they love him just as he is. They emphasize that they ARE his parents, no matter what. Twitchy is content once more and they prepare to have their typical dinner, something all three of them enjoy: carrots!

If you are a parent or a schoolteacher, pick this up. It is a wonderful way to introduce kids to the concept of adoption. It reinforces the fact that love makes you a family. Pick up People by Petere Spier and It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr while you are at it.

The collaborative effort of Kes Gray and Mary McQuillan, Our Twitchy is a thoughtful picture book story about a young bunny who comes to realize that his parents don't hop the same way he does. He was adopted - a traumatic revelation, but he soon learns that families don't have to look the same as one another to be a family. Our Twitchy is recommended as a kind-hearted, simple introduction to what adoption is and means, distinguished with simplistic yet vivid color illustrations.

I loved it from the first read, and have recomended it to all the adopting couples I know. A perfect way to sum up any diffrences in the way a family looks or acts.

I agree with the other negative reviews -- this is without a doubt the single worst adoption book for kids I have ever read -- and, as an adoptive mom, I've read quite a few. I just got back from a meeting of my adoption support group, at which we compared notes on children's adoption books, and our group was unanimous in our dislike for this book. None of us (five families) would ever read this book to our kids. This book presents adoption as a big problem, something so upsetting it causes the adopted child to run away. I prefer books that explain adoption without implying that it's something to be upset about. If you're looking for a good book on transracial adoption, get "Families Are Different" by Nina Pellegrini instead.

I thought Our Twitchy was a great example of how NOT to handle adoption. Unlike Twitchy's parents, many, if not most, adoptive parents today share the story of how they became a family with their children from babyhood on, thus curtailing any big revelations and strong reactions like poor Twitchy had. And why did it take the whole book before Twitchy's parents finally reassured him that they were indeed his real parents??
As an adoptive parent, this is one book I will never share with my child.

This is a cruel, heartless, sloppily written book.

It is not good to keep adoption a secret,and make the poor child discover it for himself!(see a previous review)

In addition, the voice makes no sense. It is not possible to tell who is talking for several pages.

Hope this rushes to out of print.