Parenting on Purpose

Snow, snow and more snow.... That's what the travellers Squirky the Alien, Emma his Sister and Mr Quentin their friend, find on Planet S, the next planet in the quest to find Squirky's birth parents. And then, they find the huge letters written in the snow....  HELP ME! Where is My Mama , the fourth book in Melanie Lee's series, The Adventures of Squirky the Alien , deviates slightly from the main adoption plot, and turns to how children can learn to consider the interests of others before themselves. This, says Melanie in the forward, is what she had been learning in the months prior to writing the book, that "helping others is often an indirect way of helping yourself".  Our little boys Z and E posing with Squirky 4 & Squirky 5. The boys love the Squirky series! As a parent and an educator, I am in strong agreement with Melanie. There are many students whom I meet who adopt a "me first" attitude towards others when in school. And, ob...

Upon returning from our short trip to Malacca last weekend, we were most happy to find our copy of The Adventures of Squirky the Alien #3 in our mail box, with a personally autographed note from Aunty Melanie to our two boys.  Melanie's son C is a good friend of Z and E, and they were once again thrilled to find her picture on the back cover. "Aunty Melanie wrote this?" Z asked in awe. He then proceeded to tell me that he wished that I would write a book for them too - "One on zebras for me, and one on giraffes for E, okay?" Fast forward a week, and we have read Squirky #3 for a total of five consecutive nights. When I suggest another bedtime story for variation, Z says, "But Mummy, it's so scary and exciting!"  Z thinks that the Red Commander looks really fierce and scary on the cover! It is indeed - this third book in the series has the elements of suspense and fear which make for a story which boys love.  For those w...

Adoption is a topic close to our heart. In many of the picture books on adoption we've read, most seem to focus on the adoptive parents' journey in finding their child and on how families can come in diverse shapes and sizes. Most have been written from a Western cultural viewpoint.  Very few (or perhaps none at all) address the issue from the adoptive child's standpoint, of feeling "alien" in a family full of humans, and, an even more "taboo" topic, that of an adoptive child's search for his birthparents. And few have Asian references - adoption is still pretty much a scarcely mentioned topic in our society. Enter an endearingly odd little blue alien named Squirky. Kids somehow just relate to this very obviously different character with a spiky hairdo and a frazzled grin, and everyone can relate to somehow feeling different from everyone else at one point in our lives.  Squirky lives in a happy family with his sister Emma who...