The Family Tree Book
Posted: July 30, 2007 at 6:39 pmAnyone know anything about The Family Tree Book (2005) by Caroline Leavitt. (Found it while preparing my review on Girls In Trouble for the birth/first parent blog tomorrow.) The tags on Amazon include adoption (twice) though the description of the book doesn’t mention anything about the subject. I’m wondering if it’s only briefly mentioned and whether it’s in a positive or negative fashion. If either adoptive or birth parents are dissed by it, I’m not interested. However, not knowing, I’m intrigued. Have you heard about it? Librarian friends?
The Discussion
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I don’t know anything about that one but am interested to hear what you think about Girls in Trouble (Me, I didn’t like it).
Dawn; as I’ll say tomorrow, I read the book when it first came out in 2004, just a few months after Munchkin’s placement and, to be blunt, I hated it. However, having just reread the book specifically for this review, which I finished last night, I see the point(s) in the book being a worst-case scenario. Just the same way that Law and Order uses worst case scenario to boost their ratings, fiction books employ the same tactics. That said, there’s a lot to be learned from the mistakes made by all characters in the book. A lot.
Review from: School Library Journal; Aug2005, Vol. 51 Issue 8, p146-146, 1/8p, includes the following:
Leavitt has nothing on adopted, blended, or other nontraditional families. Finally, the childish color illustrations will turn off the intended audience. The best genealogy title for children (and also extremely helpful for adults) is Ira Wolfman’s Climbing Your Family Tree (Workman 2002), which is thorough, clear, interesting, and exceptionally useful.
WOLFMAN, Ira. Climbing Your Family Tree: Online and
Off-Line Genealogy for Kids. rev. ed. illus. by Tim
Robinson. 228p. map. photos. reprods. appendix.
further reading. index. Web sites. CIP. Workman.
2002. pap. $13.95. ISBN 0-7611-2539-6. LC 2002016797.
Gr 5-9- In this revised, updated edition of Do People Grow on Family Trees? (Workman, 1991), Wolfman enthusiastically and thoroughly covers all aspects of genealogy, from forms, heirlooms, interviews, and names to immigration, documents, adoption, and Internet resources. Numerous examples; helpful, amusing sidebars and illustrations; and clear instructions are found throughout the volume. Each of the 11 chapters begins with a summary and ends with a handy “To-Do List.” The book even has a companion Web site that includes links to useful URLs, downloadable charts and checklists, tips, quizzes, and games. Unfortunately, the list for further reading relies heavily on old, out-of-print titles, and more up-to-date books are available. Still, Family Tree is the best children’s book available on the subject, and will be profitable and inspiring to adults as well.
Interesting, Judy, as the tags on Amazon list adoption (twice) and “gay inclusion” on Leavitt’s book. I wonder who tagged it as such in order to pique the interest of those types of families? Interesting, interesting. Thanks for the heads up on the other book!