Heroes! Activities for Kids Dealing with Deployment
REVIEWS"Just like their soldier dads and moms, many military children are experiencing an extraordinary number of deployments resulting in disruptions in their home routines and stress. They often feel they must take on additional family responsibilities in the absence of their deployed parent and can become overwhelmed. AUSA Family Programs is continually searching for beneficial resources to offer military parents to help them address these challenges. I highly recommend Susan Weaver'sRainbow Reach Seriesof books for younger children. These insightful workbooks will address not only sensitive issues such as worry and the deployment of a parent but also the loss of a loved one or even a family pet. Using both pictures and words, they offer a means for a child to be able to communicate his/her emotions and thoughts about life affecting events."~Sylvia E. J. Kidd, Director of Family ProgramsAssociation of the US Army (AUSA)"The key to recovery from significant emotional loss is to express feelings in the moment you have them. Children are naturally superb at communicating what they feel when they feel it. TheRainbow Reach Seriesof books presents perfect guidelines for children to help them discover what they need and want to communicate about life-affecting events, in pictures and words. We heartily endorse these books - and heart is the most important element."~Russell Friedman & John W. JamesCo-authors of:The Grief Recovery HandbookandWhen Children Grieve"As a licensed clinical psychologist, with several years of experience helping children with the issues contained in theRainbow Reach Series,I would utilize this book in a child's therapy to help them learn how to express difficult thoughts and feelings. The book is colorful, engaging, and easy to use, and the activities will help children address the impact of life events in healthy ways."~Lynn J. Piper, Ph.D., LCP"TheRainbow Reach Seriesis wonderful! I love the way that a child's creativity is utilized in identifying emotions and focusing on blessings. The books offer excellent yet simple text and drive the lessons of optimism, acceptance of feelings and resilience home in truly age-appropriate ways. Bravo!"~Fran Zamore, MSW, ACSWAuthor of:GriefWork - Healing from LossandThe GriefWork Companion - Activities for Healing"In an age of communication by social media networks, Twitter, Facebook, and other non-physically connected devices, it is refreshing to find a means to help children deal with the pain of loss, parental deployment, worry and anxiety that is non-electronic and allows for multimedia expression of feelings in an interactive format. The use of drawings and activities illustrate more complex concepts such as projection, desensitization, grief, mourning, and guilt. TheHeroes!activity book is an excellent tool for children whose parent or parents are being deployed in dangerous, life-threatening war zones. Without dwelling on the negative impacts of deployment, this workbook approaches deployment from the positive of what the hero parent is doing to help our country and how those children can preserve a long-distance relationship."~Mary Beth Williams, Ph.D., LCSW"Children heal best when they are engaged in activities that help them express and resolve difficult feelings. TheRainbow Reach Seriesprovides such activities in a creative, interesting workbook format that will help children move beyond grief and anxiety."~Mary W. Lindahl, Ph.D., LCPProfessor of Psychology, Marymount University"Susan Weaver has created theRainbow Reach Seriesas a comprehensive tool for children to express thoughts and feelings involving death and loss. From pet loss, to worry, deployment and death, these interactive workbooks create the safe space for expression so needed for our bereaved girls and boys. Parents and professionals will assuredly benefit from using these resources to develop communication and sharing, and normalize a child's grief journey. TheRainbow Reach Seriesis a valuable tool for young people and adults to use in recognizing the multifaceted aspects of grieving, and for supporting outlooks for recovery and resilience that can be useful throughout a lifetime."~Linda Goldman, Grief Therapist and EducatorAuthor of:Life and Loss, Children Also Grieve,andRaising Our Children to Be ResilientOther books in theRainbow Reach Series:Forever Friend:Activities for Kids Who Have Lost a PetLove & Memories:Activities for Kids Who Have Lost a Loved OneWorry Busters!Activities for Kids Who Worry Too Much