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MWSA Review
"T.A. for Military Kids – the Awesome Military Kid’s Guide to Feelings” helps military children understand some of the unique feelings that come with being members of military families. “T.A.” stands for Transactional Analysis, a communications theory. Author Leslie Nelson designed the book to be read by an adult working with a child explaining different feelings and then asking children questions to help them explore their feelings. Stephanie Nelson provides colorful and descriptive illustrations to accompany the text and appeal to kids.
The author’s background as both a counselor and a member of a military family provide an understanding of the subject matter. The questions she asks keeps children engaged and thinking, without probing. She discusses the differences between military children and others including the not-so-great things including frequent moves, new schools, and parent deployments. She also suggests ways for children to replace bad feelings with good ones based on Dr. Claude Steiner’s research.
This is a book that fills a void for adults looking for methods to speak with military children about the realities of being members of military families. It is a good primer to get children talking. It speaks of good feelings, bad feelings, and reminds children to be proud of themselves and their families. This book is an easy read for adults and recommended to be read to eight- to-eleven-year-olds.
MWSA Review by Valerie Ormond (June 2018)
Author's Synopsis
A 2011 Department of Defense report approximates that 44 percent of military personnel have children. When the military enlists a service member, it enlists the entire family. These families make many sacrifices and deserve our respect and appreciation. T. A. for Military Kids: The Awesome Military Kids Guide to Feelings encourages military kids to feel proud of themselves and their contribution to the family, and proud to have a parent in the military, even if military life is challenging for them at times. A kid’s perception of an event like deployment is often very different from an adult’s. Depending on their age, kids may believe they are responsible for the deployed parent going away, while this thought would never enter an adults mind. The book talks about the normal feelings all kids have and then explains the possible emotions experienced by military kids when faced with the events of everyday military life, such as frequent moves, adjusting to new schools, absence of the military parent, and re-establishing family roles when the military parent returns. This guide helps military kids make sense of their experiences and understand that all of their feelings are normal and okay, even the challenging ones. For military parents, T. A. for Military Kids makes life a little easier by encouraging kids to talk about what’s going on in their heads.
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-4624-0874-0 ASIN: B07922FNLH
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Picture Book
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Picture Book
Number of Pages: 40