Telly Award -winning artist Jennifer Shaw’s new children’s book, “Dumplings Mean Family,” is told from her son Ethan’s perspective as he shares what it was like to join their family after his adoption.
Welcome to one of the November 24th stops on the blog tour for Dumplings Mean Family by Jennifer Shaw with iRead Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
I’ve always been interested in reducing my impact on the environment, but with a large family that can be a difficult chore. Many of these simple switches have helped us reduce our footprint, saved us precious time and money, and have helped us avoid more chemicals in our home. Check out these three swaps for your family to try:
Swap dryer sheets for dryer balls.
We switched our dryer sheets for dryer balls about five years ago. These are wool balls you put in the dryer to soften your clothes. I bought a pack of six and just leave them in the dryer. I spent about $10 for them and they are still working fine after five years. They do not leave the clothes quite as soft, but we save the money and the waste of throwing a dryer sheet away every time, plus less chemicals on our clothes. Win, win, win.
Swap paper napkins for fabric napkins.
Everyone in the family has three fabric napkins of an assigned color and they live in a drawer in our kitchen. I grab them all and wash them on a set schedule to have the assurance they will never get truly terrible. But everyone knows that if theirs is getting dirty, they just drop it in the laundry and get another. Since we are a large family, there’s pretty much always a load of laundry running so I literally don’t even notice this. We have one large pack of paper napkins I bought six years ago when we made this switch, and I keep it for parties or guests. For one initial investment in buying the fabric napkins, I have saved years and years of buying paper napkins and throwing them away.
Swap plastic water bottles for reusable water bottles.
Likewise, everyone in our family has an assigned color for their reusable water bottle. This started when we went to China for our first adoption of our fourth child, Noah. The water isn’t safe there, so we got everyone their own color of Nalgene bottle, and it stuck. We have a filter on our kitchen sink that cost $100, lasts 5 years or 50,000 gallons, and took 5 minutes for my husband to install. We refill from there and have saved thousands of plastic bottles and more than made up our investment over the years.
About the Book
Dumplings Mean Family
by Jennifer Shaw
Illustrated by Rinnah Shaw
Published 1 May 2021
This Side Up LLC
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Page Count: 32
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Telly Award -winning artist Jennifer Shaw’s new children’s book, “Dumplings Mean Family,” is told from her son Ethan’s perspective as he shares what it was like to join their family after his adoption.
“When Ethan and his siblings are adopted from China to the United States, everything seems so strange and different. Their new American family doesn’t even know how to make Chinese food! The children are worried. Will they ever get to eat their favorite meals again? For Ethan’s family, embracing two cultures means learning to fold and pinch their way to dumplings that taste like home.”
Truly a family project, Jennifer’s oldest daughter, Rinnah, served as illustrator for this heartwarming book celebrating the truth that families can be strong and united when they commit to loving each other for who they truly are. As Ethan says, “We may be different in some ways, but we are one family!”
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
About the Author
Jennifer Shaw is a Telly Award-winning singer/songwriter, author, speaker, and five-time Top 40 Billboard artist. Her work has been featured by Focus on the Family, Insight for Living, Family Life Today, Compassion International, Autism Speaks, and many more. Her book, “Life Not Typical: How Special Needs Parenting Changed My Faith and My Song,” has brought national attention to the issue of Sensory Processing Disorder. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband, six busy kids, and two crazy dogs.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon
Giveaway Alert!
Enter to win DUMPLINGS MEAN FAMILY signed by the author (one winner/USA only) (ends Dec 7)
DUMPLINGS MEAN FAMILY Book Tour GiveawayDisclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Cute cover