Do You Sing Twinkle?: A Story About Remarriage and New Family

by Sandra Levins, Bryan Langdo (Illustrator)

Mom has a new family! She has a new husband who is not my dad, and worst of all, new kids. Girls! Just as it feels for the young child in Do You Sing Twinkle? living apart from a parent can be a hard adjustment for kids. And, when that parent remarries and has stepchildren, things can get really confusing for kids! Told from a young boy’s point of view, the book sensitively addresses many questions that children may have while adjusting to remarriage and joint-custody situations. Kids and parents will learn good and easy ways to stay connected all around |helping kids to feel special and loved.

A "Note to Parents" is included that will help parents talk to their children and deal with common but difficult emotions as they adjust to all the changes in their lives.

Genres: Picture Books, Divorce, Family, Childrens, Fiction, Parenting

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

When Sandra Levins began writing children's books she fell in love with the message behind the stories and the notion that they can make a positive difference in the lives of children and families.

Sandra is the author of a graphic novel for young adults, four children’s picture books, and a Young Adult novel in eBook format. Her works have received the National Indie Excellence Award for LGBTQ Fiction for Children and Young Adults and twice received Mom's Choice Award for Children's Picture Books. She is a Gelett Burgess Children's Book and National Parenting Publications Awards Honors Winner. Her picture books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Arabic. A natural-born storyteller, Sandra writes about real-life issues like divorce, remarriage, honesty, LGBT questioning, and teen pregnancy.

Sandra lives with her husband, Jim, in Burlington, Iowa, a short hike from the Mighty Mississippi.

Reviews

[Caitlin Wall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do You Sing Twinkle? is a realistic fiction story about a family who experience divorce and remarriage. The young boy who is the main character struggles with these changes and has to learn how to adapt. The author is an insider to this topic as she remarried herself and has stepchildren. This book is in my families text set as a representation of families who face divorce. The story is engaging and you really can empathize with the boy as he struggles with his anger at the situation. Children may relate to this story because it reflects their own families, and it also sends the message that divorce is tough but families get through it, and you gain some new family as well. The reactions of the characters are realistic, but the definitions throughout the story seem a bit forced. The illustrations connect wonderfully to the writing. The characters are mostly white, with little diversity. The emotions that the boy faces are complex and are not brushed off, but rather explored so that the family can help the boy with his feelings.

[Tory S. Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book deals with step-siblings, family blending, and changes in schedule/routine/transition-distance. It does so in simple terms, without overly-prettifying the situation but while making it clear that things are less-than-ideal but everyone is committed to making it work nicely. Finally, changes are bridged by holding to things that are familiar and making compromises to suit the needs of the child.

This book is accessible and genuine. It does focus on just one child (no direct siblings of his own), which might reduce its application for some children; nonetheless, each child may be able to view it from their own perspective.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good picture book to introduce remarriage for those (~3-7 years) needing a relational book on that. In this book there are stepsiblings that a bio-parent is spending more time with. But I think a child could relate to any half-siblings that come along that will spend more time with bio-parent than they get to. It is a good way to help them remember that they are loved unconditionally and not forgotten. From experiences I am thinking it would be helpful to have a book like this for some parents.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about a young boy who struggles with gaining a new family through remarriage. It shows how confusing it can be to have two different families and the struggles of dealing with that. While the book is a little difficult for young children to grasp, I think it is an important topic to touch on.

[A Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a topic I have seen often covered in children's books. The main character is struggling with family changes, but his mother hears how he is feeling and finds ways to reassure him. I think the topic was handled well and I enjoyed reading the book.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

About the new adjustments that have to be made when a parent re-marries after divorce. The child in the story goes through grieving stages all over again.....

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story
Well written and illustrated

[Tracy Katz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deciding which parent to live with and acceptance of a new family is addressed in Do You Sing Twinkle by Sandra Levins, illustrated by Bryan Langdo. It is story about two brothers who have to “share” their mom with two new step sisters and her new husband. The tough issues of divorce are addressed as emotions turn into bad days and acting out, and a solution has to be found to comfort a child who is experiencing a complex new world. “No one will ever replace you” is at the heart of this story. A tender tale about intricate family relationships, this book addresses the complexities of divorce in simple story form. The reader will get to experience a “bad day” with the main character and how he discusses what triggered his bad behavior. The open dialogue between the parents and the children in the story is helpful to illustrate how good communication can solve problems. The artistic content and title are somewhat deceiving though. The cover of the book shows a young boy gazing up at the moon and the title “Do you Sing Twinkle”, leads the reader to assume this is for a younger child, one who is still singing “twinkle twinkle little star”. The story line is thickly worded for a picture book and the content is heavier than what would be assumed from the title and illustration. Also the first line, “For a long time, my brother and me lived with my dad…” is an odd grammatically incorrect choice considering the heavier content. I would expect to find verse that speaks along with the rest of the plot; rather it is an odd start, one that sounds younger than the main character who appears to be 7-8 years. These incongruencies make the audience choice for this book more limited. The heavier notion of a new family makes it appropriate for children going through these issues, yet the very young overtones are oddly placed and some older children may be distanced by the lack of commonality. This book is most appropriate for families experiencing this situation. It also offers a “Note to Parents” guide at the end to address additional concerns a divorcing parent may be facing.

[Tim Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Realistic Fiction/Informative
Copyright: 2009

"Do You Sing Twinkle?" is the story about a family who face the daily struggles of divorce. A boy and his brother live with their father while their mother moves away and starts another family with her new husband. The oldest boy has a hard time with this and soon finds himself getting into trouble.

This was a great story not only for younger children who may be dealing with divorce in their own families, but even for children who know nothing about it. The story itself is fiction, however, the author includes definitions of terms such as "step-brother", "step-sister", "common ground", and "quality time" which all can deal with divorce. The last pages of the book contains a note to parents written by author Jane Annunziata, who writes books about family, sex, and adoption. The note contains information for parents about helping children through post-divorce changes and helping them cope.

This was a great book with good information. I believe every child should read this book. So many of our students either know someone, or are experiencing first hand the effects of divorce.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Age: 3rd-5th grade?

I'm not exactly sure who this children's book is aimed towards. The supplementary material at the end is a note for adults, the tone of writing is for younger children, and the protagonist and plot is for older children. This is also a book that fails to present a nonfiction subject in a fictionalized story format. Oftentimes, the child narrator's voice is broken to describe "grown-up" words without transition or skillfully incorporating into the child's perspective.

I like that this book focuses on step-families and the frustrated emotions of the child, but the writing is not fluid and the audience is not clear.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually would have loved this book if it were a nonfiction title. Which is what it should be. I know it was written to be a picture book, Baker and Taylor and everyone else say picture book. But for heaven's sake it has important words highlighted, the text defines "hard choice" "stepbrother" and should have a glossary to define these concepts. It has a VERY long afterword to parents! I keep reading these didactic picture books because we keep getting them. Not impressed.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a pretty specific audience--I don't think it would work well with just a general reader. There's really not much of a story, just a kid explaining how divorce and remarriage work and showing him working through the feelings associated with it. Maybe it would be more appropriate for a kid whose mom or dad is about to get remarried? Not sure.

[Stephanie Wycihowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a a great story explaining what it's like to have divorce, remarriage and step siblings in the family. This is written from one little boys perspective from the family.
I found this book to be a great book to recommend to those families with these diffcult topics to explain to their children.