Melinda HardinCritiques

Fantastically detailed full page illustrations show life in the Army in a way that young kids will enjoy. The easy to understand text compares super heroes to every day heroes and is lesson that won’t soon be forgotten. This is a great book for explaining to kids why dad, or mom, needs to be away on deployment or just a fine book to share on Veterans Day. It even has a companion book “Hero Mom”.

Ages 3-5 Pages 32

Published in 2013, Hero Mom by Melinda Hardin and illustrated by Bryan Langdo is a book I read every year for Month of the Military Child. This is best geared to my kindergarteners and first graders. The illustrations are terrific, depicting a military mom deployed and showing different aspects of her job. So many books are geared toward men in the military, however for those students whose moms are deployed this book sharing is a sense of pride. The author compares the moms to superheroes, a perfect comparison for our young students. I appreciate that the illustrations represent many ethnicities.

This is a book about a kid whos dad is in the military and goes away sometimes.
Ages – 3-5
Source – Pierce College library.

This is a story about a kid who sees his dad as a superhero because he is in the military. This is a great story for kids who have parents in the military and are far away from them because of it. It allows kids to see their family life in a book and be able to relate to it.

Ages 2-5
Pierce College Library

amazon.com

amazon.com

I felt like it was a good book for young children and it talked about a military family. I grew up in a military family and I feel like this is a good book for children that experience the same things.
Ages: 3-5
Source: Pierce Library

A book about a boy talking about why his dad is away in the military and how he's a hero because of it. An easy and great book for 3 year old's due to the all to common occurrence of family members serving.

This book is for children 2-6 years old. The book is about military members and how their children compare their parents to superhero's. This book can be left out in the classroom for all access of for children to take home when there parents are in training or deployed. Its hard to have parents in and out of your life due to military and this book can help support those children and families.

source- personal library

This is a book about a girls dad being in the army. Ages 4-8. Source Pierce College Library.

This book is about the story of a military dad through the eyes of his little son. This book would be perfect to read to military kids or even kids who are around military kids so they understand what they're going through. Ages 3-5. Source: pierce county library system

This book is about a military family who is teaching their young child how to cope when mom is deployed. Dad reasures the child that mommy will be back! Age appropriate for ages 3-5years. Found at university place library.

Ages 3-6. Having a dad in the military brings its own challenges and rewards.

A short book about a boy who's father left for the army .While gone, the boy thinks of how his father is that of a "superhero". While away, his father sent a letter to the boy from far away, for him to read.

Ages- 3-6
Source- Recommendation via LibraryThing

A little boy describes what his father does during his time being deployed, and why he is a superhero. There are very little words in this book, but it still made an impact with the help of the wonderful illustrations that went along with it. I thought this book was great, and I loved how it was for the "itty bitty" readers. There are so many parents that are deployed and it might be hard for young children to fully understand why their parents leave. This book does a beautiful job of explaining deployment in a very simplistic manner, while also keeping it fun and cute.

After reading this book I decided that I like it quite a bit. The Illustrations were very detailed and went with what was said on each page. For instance, on the page where it said “He can’t fly well, sometimes he can” the illustration was of army men jumping out of a plane with parachutes on their backs. My favorite thing about this book was how it challenged each reader to think about what the children of soldiers go through, and how they view their military parents as superheroes or someone to look up to. The big idea of this book was for it to relatable for children whose fathers are in the military. It talked about the many things that their father might do like traveling for long periods of time, the clothes they wear and some of the equipment thy use.

Summary: Short book about a young boys father who has been deployed. He talks about how his dad is more than a superhero. It shows the boy reading a letter from his dad who is gone to war. A very short book.

Personal Reflection: This was a very brief book. The illustrations were very good and it would be a good asset to read in an early childhood setting. It is an important part of history and the future to include books about the military.

Classroom Extension:
1. Write letters and draw pictures to send to deployed soldiers.

2. Collect items to send care packages overseas.

Gives examples of the different jobs mom's hold in the military.

Gives examples of the different jobs mom's hold in the military.

Gives examples of the different jobs mom's hold in the military.

Gives examples of the different jobs mom's hold in the military.

I love this book for several reasons. First, I think that it's central message is a powerful one. It addresses that not all hero's wear capes and that several children grow up without a parent at home all of the time because of their duties to the military. The language in this book is light, which allows it to take serious concepts (guns, tanks, etc.) and make them not so scary. The illustrations that accompany the text are detailed and colorful. The plot explores the different aspects of military life by comparing them to things a superhero would have, which is a cute way of explaining all of these things.

Not all super heroes wear capes and have super powers. But any mom in the military is seen as a super hero to their own child!

A story of a young boy and his father being in the military. Upon his fathers return from his deployment, he compares his father to a superhero!

This picture book is one of the most touching children's novels I have ever read. You are taken into briefly into the lives of seven young children whose parents are American Soldiers. Each child compares what their mother does, with the power of an actual superhero. This heart felt picture book allows the reader to understand how difficult yet touching it is to have a family member in the service. I would read this book to pre-k children until age 1st grade because their comprehension of the context of this book is completely understandable. I feel as though children in this age group will be able to relate to having a family member in the service.