Review by Shellie for: The Wicked Good Stepmother ~ by William G. Bentrim (illustrated by Flavia Comley)
A self published children’s book that gives some insight into issues kids may be facing with their parents today, especially when it concerns a step parent - an often difficult relationship for children. It has sweet and fun color illustrations.
About: Billy and Susan have been living with grandma and grandpa for the past year while dad has been away fighting for their country. They miss him a lot and their mom too, who has recently passed away. Their newest concern is that Daddy has remarried. They now have a new mom – a stepmother. They have heard all the bad things about stepmothers from stories and both are scared. As they imagine all the horrible things this new evil stepmother will do to them, they become even more uncomfortable at the prospect of meeting their new mom.
But when they meet Daddy’s new wife they find that she is pretty, and it turns out she is also very nice. When she meets both children she promises to try and be a terrific stepmother and get to know them better so that maybe some day they will love her as much as their dad does.
Thoughts: An important short story for boys and girls to help them transition into a new family arrangement in a positive way. It has a thoughtful introduction for the adults at the beginning to assist parents to in turn help their children understand the stereotypes and scary thoughts that may be concerning them about a new and different parent - a relationship which often holds much angst and tension.
The book has 30 colorful pages, sweet illustrations, and meaningful and important text for small children to read. Not all stepmothers are evil or wicked, even though there are many stories which tell them that they are. Like most of William’s books it has a creative and cute twist at the end which is fun and intriguing, and a listing of Bill’s other wonderful children’s books is also at the end of the book. Highly recommended, it’s a 4 star read that is helpful for growing and changing families in understanding a complex and often difficult relationship.
CreateSpace (November 2011)
William G. Benetrim is an indie author, a child advocate, and a counselor. If your interested in finding out more he has several blogs where he does short and interesting reviews in a variety of genres – mostly mystery, science fiction and fantasy. To contact him you can link to ~ Pick of the Literate, The Azure Dwarf, Money Saving Tech Tips, his professional website, or his author’s page on Goodreads.
Looking for more children’s books – please see our listing for Children’s Book Week for this year with a variety of reviews from us for a variety of genres sure to suit a child or teen.
Thanks for reading.
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