Andrea Nepa

Red in the Flower Bed is a beautifully imagined story about interracial adoption. It's sweet and lilting prose captures a child's attention, while the stunning illustrations capture their imagination. Honestly, I do believe that this book would be perfect for any child who has gone through an adoption. Especially if they question why they may not look like their other family members.

The simple analogy of a child to a seed is fantastic. Just as the seed needs to move on to another patch of ground to fully grow, Andrea Nepa shows that sometimes a child must move on to a new family to fully grow. Red in the Flower Bed is an age-appropriate look at a tough topic for children, and is sure to open the floor for more discussion. I believe every child could benefit from this book even, since at the soul of it is the message of acceptance. Andrea Nepa shows children that everyone is beautiful, and fits in just where they are.

With beautiful illustrations and a sweet storyline, I'd definitely recommend Red in the Flower Bed to all families out there. Share it with your children and discuss.… (meer)

Beautiful written story about interracial adoption, told through the eyes of a little seed. This is the journey of a little seed that finds itself in a strange flower bed. This seed eventually becomes a green plate then a beautiful poppy. Even though this little poppy is different than all the other flowers it is accepted and welcomed into the family.

Heart warming story which gives the message that it is ok to be different. This book talks about adoption in a manner that children will understand. This book is beautifully illustrated and ideal for adoptive parents to explain adoption to the kids.

Copy of this book was received for free, all the opinions expressed are my own through reading this book

This review was first published on http://everybookhasasoul.wordpress.com… (meer)

Red in The Flower Bed is a children’s book that takes on a difficult topic—interracial adoption—and manages to explain it simply and beautifully. Although I haven’t dealt with this topic personally, I imagine that this type of book would be a godsend to parents who have adopted a child from another ethnicity who are beginning to be ask questions like “Why do I look different from you?” Although the focus is on interracial adoption, I think the book could work for talking to any adopted child.

Using a gardening analogy to illustrate adoption, Nepa’s simple story is easy for any child to understand and relate to their lives. The story starts with a seed dropping from a bright red poppy flower. Unfortunately, the soil is too dry for the seed to grow so the wind takes it “from east to west” until the little seed is dropped into a garden. The other flowers are excited to see what the little seed will grow up to be. When the seed finally blooms, she is a bright red poppy flower. Looking at the other flowers, she sees zinnias, snapdragons, pea blossoms and more. Then a daisy points out how the addition of the red poppy helped to make a complete rainbow in the garden. The story is told in short rhymes and is accompanied by brightly colored and patterned illustrations that look like they were made by layering paper.

I thought the garden analogy was a wonderful way to explain the concept of interracial adoption. It is non-threatening, easy to understand and yet manages to convey several important messages:

* Seeds/children need the right environment in which to grow and finding that environment might require a seed/child to travel to another place.
* Gardens/families can be made up of flowers/people of all colors, shapes and sizes.

I think this book is a wonderful way to introduce the concept of adoption to young children who are curious about adoption or why they may look different from their family members. The message of the book is simple but powerful: children need to find the right place to grow and flourish. The analogy of a poppy seed growing up in a colorful garden with many different types of flowers further illustrates the idea of diversity in families. The gentle tone and soothing color palette of the book help make the ideas and concepts non-threatening and easy to understand. If you or someone you know is looking for a children’s book to help start a discussion about adoption, I think this book would be a wonderful starting point.… (meer)

Red in the Flower Bed is a insightful and whimsical children’s book creating a fun read with the singsong type of rhyme that makes for an engaging reading process. Andrea Nepa has risen to the challenge of making the confusing and unsettling process of adoption into a story of search and discovery. In a more difficult setting where the adoption is interracial, she has found just the perfect way to help an child feel comfortable in a new place surrounded with differences. This would be insightful with any adoption and not limited to interracial, I believe there is always a bit of that feeling, of not belonging, and this book, takes that difference and shows how all parts make a whole. The story, beginning with the seed being directed and finding just the best and most special place to grow, shows a love and a welcoming that is difficult to miss. The beauty of the new color coming up in a bed full of other colors all different and unique blending into a rainbow shows how each entity is of itself unique and yet a part of the whole, creating a family. I felt the book had a light and genuine touch, making a difficult theme beautiful. You will be charmed by the prose, and the beauty of the concept is well illustrated with beautiful colors and themes, sure to capture the imagination.… (meer)