Why Am I an Only Child?

Rating:
Summary: Review from Only Child Dot Com -- by Raye Becker
Review: Book Review: Eudora Catches On by Raye Becker

Sometimes the best answers come from a purple rhino. A least that's how it is in Why Am I an Only Child? by Jane Annunziata and Marc Nemiroff. The title of the book is the question almost every only child asks a parent, and it's a question most of them dread. It can take the wind out of them. Some parents have a ready answer. They made a conscious choice to have their only child so they can say, "Because we chose to have one child. You are everything we have always wanted." But if the choice wasn't conscious it might be more difficult. You want your child to feel secure and confident that his/her family is right and that just because other children might have siblings doesn't make their family better. We also want our children to understand that differences are what make life interesting.

Why Am I an Only Child? was written to help young children deal with their feelings about being an only child. The story of Eudora, a confused and sometimes angry little rhino, can help children and parents begin a dialogue about being an only child. Margaret Scott's lively and engaging illustrations help draw the reader into a world of rhino parenting that will prompt open discussion.

Eudora looks around her and sees that her friends have brothers or sisters. Then she looks in the mirror and wonders what's wrong with her. Why doesn't she have what her friends have? She is upset. How could this have happened to her? She goes to her parents for help and asks them the loaded question. "Don't you want more like me?" Mom and dad answer that sure they would like millions more like her, but all families are different. Eudora doesn't like this answer because she wants to run the show. Mom and dad inform her that she can't be the boss in this situation and encourage her to think about the positive aspects of being an only child. Once Eudora reconsiders her situation she realizes that there are definite advantages to being an only child. With her parents' help she comes to understand that every family "has its own right size." She may be an only child but she has many friends, cousins and neighbors. She is not alone. Eudora sorts out her feelings and gets the message that being an only child doesn't mean that you are either lonely or disadvantaged. In fact, Eudora comes to understand just how lucky she is.

Any child between the ages of 4-7 will enjoy this book, and every family will benefit from the conversations the ensue.

Rating:
Summary: Overall positive for kids
Review: I was not impressed with the illustrations and I think this book reinforces some stereotypes of only children. However, the child I bought it for liked it quite a bit and for her it seemed to satisfy the main question it poses.

Rating:
Summary: Not what we thought
Review: When we purchased " Why am I an only child ?", we thought we were buying a helpful uplifting book. The first thing to hit you is that, the illustrations were visually uninteresting. The text for the first half of the book seems to reinforce the negatives of being an only child and was quite sad. The conclusion that the author came to, was to deem the "problem" of being an only child, is that the child wants to be in control of the family. Many of the positives that were pointed out about being an only child were shallow. I found this book quite insulting for children and one that reinforces the concept of the spoiled only child. I would have given it less then one star if possible.