Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Required Reading

As part of our agreement with our adoption agency, we are required to read 5 books that we chose from a list.

How we chose the books: I had bought There is No Me Without You and asked our social worker if we could use it for required reading. It is so insightful into Ethiopia and the orphan crisis there, so she said that it was good. Then, I called my friend, LJ, and asked her which ones she owned, but she only had one. Next, I got online and checked the library to see which ones we could read for free, and they only had one. It didn't end up being free after the fine, so I ended up buying it as well as the others in the end. So, we own all but one now!

Here are Susan's reviews:

There is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children ***** Loved it! I've begun reading it again with new insight! I posted about it HERE back in June.






Shepherding A Child's Heart * Ok, I get that it is important to deal with heart issues and attitudes, but the use of corporal punishment seems to be the only way this author can deal with it. He totally equates "the rod of correction" with spanking. Children can be taught how to behave without being smacked. A painful read. I took what I needed and left the rest.


The Whole-Life Adoption Book *** An easy read, short book! Lots of real-life examples of situations that may arise.






Raising Adopted Children *** Another easy read. It covers a lot of issues and problems with adoption in general.






Parenting with Love and Logic **** A lot of it makes sense. The first half of the book talks about giving your children choices so that they can learn to be responsible for themselves. The second half is has parenting "pearls" explaining how to use the tactics for specific situations. I can't say I could do everything they suggest, but I would recommend this to any parent.


I am finished with my required reading!! Now, give me my baby boy!

2 comments:

Beth Hollmann said...

You should go get an Amazon Associates account and put links for these books - you could raise more $ for Ethiopia that way, if anyone purchases the books through your links!

Team Dragovich said...

You are too funny-- "Give me my baby!" I agree!!! I have all those books except the Shepherding book-- I always heard this about his book, so have always chosen other resources. I'm so bored with Raising Adopted Children... I love to read and hate reading boring books. It makes me not want to read. Then I just spend more time blogging and internet surfing to avoid reading the book. But I am crazy about needing to finish a book-- even if I am reading more than one at a time. Rebecca had some other books she recommended-- The Connected Child and Behind the Mask. Really, I have a list of fiction I would rather be reading right now-- can you tell I am having "book drama" in my life? :D!
Soon... you guys are right there!
Love, Shari