A Gift For the Military Child: Is Your Dad a Pirate? {A Book Review + #HolidayGiftGuide2017 Giveaway}

***Book received for consideration. Post contains affiliate links. All thoughts are 100% my own. 

Being a military family is not easy.

Don't get me wrong, I loved many things about our active duty military life, but with it came a lot of uncertainty. We never knew when my husband would get the word that he was to be deployed again. While he was away, we would not know when we would hear from him next or what could happen while he was gone.

Thankfully, we were lucky enough that physically he always came back just the way he'd left. There may have been many close calls along the way, but still he came home. Many others sadly are not so lucky. They either never have that chance to say see their loved one one last time, or they have come home with life changing injuries. These men and women have truly made the biggest sacrifice and for that we cannot thank them enough.

But for the parent that DOES have to explain to their child that their parent will look differently than they left... I cannot imagine having to have to have that conversation. But today, I am sharing a book about just that topic, Is Your Dad a Pirate? :



Her daddy went away to fight for our country. And he came home changed. What's a young family to do when a parent is injured? How might they respond to curiosity? In this tender account based on her childhood experiences, beloved author Tara McClary Reeves shares how her family adapted to the extensive physical losses her father, Marine Corps Lieutenant Clebe McClary, sustained. With warmth and humor, this book encourages children and spouses facing similar trials to cherish the gift of family. To hold on to faith. And to choose to be loving heroes on the home front. Is Your Dad a Pirate? will challenge your perspective and deepen your commitment to love.

This is truly a fabulous, heartfelt book. Now, I'll be honest, this is not a happy go lucky children's bedtime story, but truly touches on a very serious topic of war injury. In the story we meet a little girl whose Marine father has lost his arm and an eye during the war. When other children see him, they ask the innocent childlike question, "Is your dad a pirate?". Through the book we see her go from annoyance to a better understanding of their new normal.

While this is a very serious subject, it is written in a way that is appropriate for even young children. It does not go into the specifics of WHAT has happened, but only that things were different and that it was okay. For a child that has had a parent (or uncle or friend) injured during the war, this is truly a must read. It will help give them a better understanding and perhaps come to terms a little better too.

Is Your Dad a Pirate? is available to purchase now at your favorite book retailers.




And one very lucky reader is going to win a copy for yourself. Enter for yourself, someone you know, or perhaps to donate to a wounded veteran's family this Christmas. Enter using the giveaway form below:

Entry-Form