Love, Lizzie: Letters to a Military Mom

by Lisa Tucker McElroy

Lizzie's mom is serving in the military overseas, and Lizzie really misses her. While they are apart, Lizzie and her mom write letters to each other to help make the separation easier. Lizzie asks her mom to hurry up and defend freedom so she can come home soon. It's hard when her mom misses Lizzie's soccer championship and her birthday. Throughout the story, Lizzie draws maps to show her mother the important things in her life--like the new ice cream store, her new friend's house, the family's Thanksgiving airplane trip to Florida, and the stars in the sky. While Lizzie doesn't know exactly where her mom is, they both can wish on the same star.

Genres: Picture Books, Military Fiction, War

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2005

Reviews

[Courtney Hartwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This book is called Love, Lizzie – Letters to a Military Mom. Lizzie is a young girl whose mother is serving in the military overseas. She misses her mother and gets to write letters to her about everything happening in her life. The book shows these letters as time progresses – passing through a whole year. Lizzie loves to include pictures of maps or drawings while sending letters to her mom. In the end, her mother sends a note with a map for her to follow where a big surprise will be waiting. They are reunited at the end of the book.

Theme: The major themes in this book include military families and separation from a loved one.

Personal response to the text: Growing up, I was best friends with a girl whose dad was in the military. He was deployed to Iraq for a year and I can remember her feeling sad because she missed him. At a young age, I was exposed to this situation and felt sympathy for my friend. This book could do the same and act as a window for children whose parents aren’t in the military.

Why I recommend this book: I think this would be an excellent book for children whose parents are serving in the military overseas. The book does a great job of portraying all the different emotions that Lizzie feels when her mom leaves (sadness, confusion, worry etc.). The book also shows how much time passes while her mother is absent in her life. As you read through the pages, Lizzie talks about her holidays, soccer game, and birthday. This book would be a good mirror for children who are going through the same experience as Lizzie and give them comfort in knowing they are not alone.

[Caitlin Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Lizzie is a realistic fiction story about a young girl who is communicating with her military mom by letters. The letters span the course of a year, and the story ends with Lizzie reuniting with her mother. This story is in my families text set because it shows a military family and how the separation affects their lives. I think that the story would appeal to young readers with its format. The dialogue is literally letters from Lizzie to her mom and vice versa, so the reader is really immersed into their lives. It also shows the time gap between letters. The plot is interesting and the transition between each letter may help young readers/listeners focus, as the topic changes with each letter. I would recommend this book for Kindergarteners and up. It is easy to understand and the author stresses putting scary things (war, violence) in the book in a child-friendly way. Children may be able to identify if they know someone in the military or have separation in their own family. The settings of the story are realistic, especially the maps. It truly looks like a map a child would draw. The struggles that Lizzie and her family face are true struggles that many families are facing. The illustrations are bright and colorful, and have lots to look at for young readers. By reading or hearing this story, children are exposed to the perspective of a separated family. It can help students feel connected, as well as help students empathize with families who face separation. I loved how the mom is the military member and the dad stays home, as it is often represented the other way. Overall, I think that this is an excellent choice to read to children.

[Emily Whitmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written in a rather interesting way from all the other books about deployment I have read for my text set. It is written from Lizzie the child's point of view in a form of letters and it shows the letters that Lizzie gets back from her mother. She received very few letters back but that is reality for many children in military families, and I love that this book has a woman in a job that is predominately male. I read this book one more time before realizing the different emotions that Lizzie felt throughout the book while she thought about her mother. The illustrations are very detailed in this book!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lizzie's mother is a deployed soldier. Lizzie writes letters over the course of the year and keeps in touch with her mother by phone, email, and exchange of gifts.
While intentionally written to instruct readers about how children of soldiers experience deployments, the book also follows the story of Lizzie's life.
The letters are shown in a font that supposedly resembles a child's printing, but it will be challenging for young readers.
A more accessible title treating the same topic is "Sometimes We Were Brave" by Pat Brisson.
Tie-in:
ELA--letter writing
Social studies: Veteran's Day

[Allison Palmgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are very happy that books about military moms exist. They help my niece understand a little better why about what her mom is off doing while she is away. Unfortunately, neither my niece or I really loved this book. I can't put my finger on exactly why. That said, this book was so much better than many of the other "military mom" books, which are often just "military dad" books poorly adapted to say "she" and "mom" instead of "he" and "dad."

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written during the Iraq war, but I think it will still resonate with children who have family members serving in the military. I like the author’s note at the beginning and the tips for handling separation, too.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 3 out of 5]

GReat book for Veteran’s Day. It was a wonderful book for discussions with your child about the military. Enjoyed it.

[Grace Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cue the tears. Such a sweet story about a mother and daughter parted for a year. Illustrations were soft and bright. I like the glimpse of both sides: letters from both

[Cheryl]

Read for Children's Books: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Cristina Quattrone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important representation for military families (and for others to understand the toll of a deployment)

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a (fictional) book of letters from a young girl Lizzie to her military mom who is stationed in another country. In the classroom, I can see many possibilities for using this book...to review correct letter format, to discuss the military and the sacrifices they make (great for Veteran's Day), and also during a unit on maps as Lizzie draws maps for her mom following each letter. (Maps of her bedroom, her town, the country, the world).

This would also be great to read aloud if you had a family member who was stationed away from home or if you taught a child whose parent was stationed away from home. The last page gives tips to families in this situation to make it more bearable for the children.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is absolutely precious!! It made me want to cry because it is so cute! I think it is really important to read this book to your kids if your wife or husband is going into the military. This book gives perspective to what it will be like for a parent to be away from a child (especially those children who are older). I also liked how it included different fears that a child might have, like safety or not knowing where the parent is. I thought that the book was good, but it could have been more descriptive in how to deal with the anxiety that the child is having rather than just having a few short letters and then a happy ending. I respect this book and I do believe it is a good way to start explaining what will happen when mom or dad is deployed

[Amy Ringquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this story Lizzie writes letters to her mom while she's away serving our country in the military. This book could be used on Veteran's Day as a way to honor those who have served and are currently serving. It is a model text for letter writing and those conventions. It also has a lot of value as a model text for presentation as it shows the letters as well as maps that Lizzie draws of her ever-expanding understanding of the world (cross-curriculum with social studies community lessons).
Reading Equivalent = 3.8

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

In letters and pictures, Lizzie shares her life with her mom who is in the military serving overseas. The illustrations are big and bright. The voice in her letters sounded child like and resonated with my storytime audience. Because each letter is separated by a two page spread of pictures Lizzie has drawn, even the youngest members of my storytime audience were inspired to "write" to a deployed mom or dad.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book for military children.

Letters from Lizzie span almost 1 year. There were a lot of great sentiments and inquisitive questions posed. Sometimes, it was a bit silly (I'm putting some sand from our beach vacation in this letter in case their is none by you).

The illustrations were incredibly busy and overwhelming. Still a good book that could serve its purpose.

[Armando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story about a girl’s military mother who is sent abroad and how they keep communication. The story is told through letters that are sent between Lizzie and her mother, with drawing about Lizzie’s life.

[Zonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for discussion of families with soldiers who have been sent overseas.

[Rachel Rouleau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for elementary school age.