Felicia's Favorite Story

by Adriana Romo (Illustrator), Leslea Newman

Overview

It's bedtime, but before Felicia goes to sleep she wants to hear her favorite story, the story of how she was adopted by Mama Nessa and Mama Linda. And so Felicia's parents tell her how they flew off in a big silver airplane to meet the baby girl who was waiting for them, and how they loved her from the first first moment they saw her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780967446851
Publisher:	Two Lives Publishing
Publication date:	11/01/2002
Pages:	26
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.07(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Lesléa (pronounced "Lez-LEE-uh") Newman is the author of 65 books including A Letter to Harvey Milk, Nobody's Mother, Hachiko Waits, Write from the Heart, The Boy Who Cried Fabulous, The Best Cat in the World, and Heather Has Two Mommies.

She has received many literary awards including Poetry Fellowships from the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Highlights for Children Fiction Writing Award, the James Baldwin Award for Cultural Achievement, and three Pushcart Prize Nominations. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists.

Editorial Reviews

The author of Heather Has Two Mommies pens another tale about a girl with two mothers, this time focusing on adoption. Narrowly skirting the banal, Newman relays the tender story as back-and-forth dialogue in what appears to be a long-standing, cherished bedtime routine. Mama Linda describes how two women named Linda and Vanessa decide to "find someone else who can share our love and be part of our family." Turning to Felicia, Mama Linda asks, "So who do you think became part of our family?' " Establishing a pattern, Felicia offers silly responses first ("A giraffe?" "No.... A giraffe was too tall to come into the house and read stories with us") before pretending to think up the right answer. Newman sensitively explains why mothers put their children up for adoption. "Sometimes," says Mama Linda, "[a woman] isn't able to take care of the child. So she does the most loving thing she can do: she allows the child to be adopted by parents who can take care of a baby and who want a child to love." Debut illustrator Romo supplies postcard-size watercolors framed with colorful, geometric borders that resemble Latin-American designs (Felicia was born in Guatemala); she also embellishes each page with tiny vignettes featuring a toy mouse. The relatively flat characters bespeak a na ve or folk style, but the effect seems ill suited to the text's cozy tone. Rarely making eye contact with each other or with Felicia, the two mamas often look stiff. Ages 3-up. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 1-In a story set in a loving family with two women as parents, a little girl asks for her favorite bedtime story-the tale of how she became part of the family. As Felicia asks questions and fills in the blanks, her mothers playfully relate the tale of their decision to share their love by bringing her into their lives. The gentle, rhythmic text perfectly mirrors the give-and-take that occurs with preschoolers when parents extend the story: Did they decide to adopt a giraffe, a mouse, or a baby? Did they take a boat or a car to Guatemala to pick her up? Was she as small as a button or a cookie when she was a baby? In the cozy conclusion to her own story and the book itself, Felicia's moms tell her that her name means "happy" in Spanish-a feeling shared by all. Each piece of art is framed by a stylistic geometric border reminiscent of stained glass. The smiling child and parents are drawn in a somewhat static style that is softened by the use of pastel colored pencils. This is a comforting book for children in alternative families as well as a pleasant tale for all children who rejoice in sharing their own life story.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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