As someone who grew up with an alcoholic parent I felt like I absolutely had to take a look at this book. The can definitely recognize and relate the experiences and can totally see where the author(s) intentions were, but I think unfortunately this book misses the mark a bit. the language is very stilted and clinical for a picture book age audience. There are good messages, like that it is not the kids fault, but it is just the presentation. The words don't have any flow to the them and while the illustrations are beautiful, if still reads very much to me as an informational adult style language. Often children of addicts are parentified as the older girl in the book is, and just because they are forced into that role doesn't mean that they should have to read about their situation in the language of adults. Metaphors and such can be a powerful tool to help kids connect to these topics and to speak at their level.
Again love the intention but I think it needs more finesse.

This will be a very important book in my classroom. Addiction in families is increasingly prevalent in my school. Finding short and relatable books has been a struggle until now.

For children with parents who are dealing with addiction, this book is an insightful look at how these things can happen and how it is not the child's fault, nor their responsibility to "fix it". The back matter is filled with information on what to do and organizations to reach out to, giving families and schools resources to help this vulnerable population.

This is a good, informative picture book for kids. Both children whose family members suffer from addiction and those who do not experience that can learn something from this story. I do think that the writing style is a bit "to the point," which may be unappealing to younger children and somewhat jarring to all readers. The tone is also quite melancholic, which makes sense given its subject matter; however, I believe this story could be told in a gentler manner, without taking away from the gravity of it. Overall, it is important for children to be aware of such issues, and I think this book does a fine job of informing children about addiction.

First, thanks to the author for bringing such a difficult subject to young children.

This powerful book tackles a difficult subject, told with empathy and compassion. The artwork is beautiful and does a good job showing addiction from a child's eyes without getting too in-depth or graphic. Its a fantastic resource to explain and discuss addiction to young children, providing gentle child-appropriate explanations.. It also addresses the emotion of guilt and blame, and how challenging is to stop addiction. I would have liked to see more interaction between mother and daughter, perhaps a conversation about how they feel and how they can help each other. At such a young age, children confuse situations and emotions. It’s important to let them know how an addict feels and the consequences.

Thank you so much to Magination Press and Netgalley for the ebook to read a review.

After their mom gets hurt she starts taking pills and can’t stop. The children’s lives change and become worse until their aunty comes to help them and their mom starts to get help for her addiction. Soon their lives are starting to come back together again.

This was powerful, emotional and so important. Addiction is a big thing that can happen to anyone at anytime, for any reason. I loved how the story tells this delicate difficult issue but tells it in a simple and beautiful way.

The children’s lives had changed so much it became a roller coaster for them, from when things first started to the girl becoming a carer at such a young age, having to figure out all the grown up jobs, then having to readjust with all the new things coming into her life.

I really appreciated how it was told, how it was handled and explained for a young audience. I loved that it showed a new friendship group, with the children joining a therapy group, seeing children they didn’t expect to have difficulties in their lives. The book had really sweet illustrations throughout which were great to look at, it also had lots of additional information provided which is such a great resource.

A delicate but honest portrayal of children living in the shadows of a parent's addiction struggles. When her mother becomes dependent on pain pills after a car accident, our young protagonist and her younger brother struggle to take care of themselves. When their mother accidentally overdoses and (thankfully) comes home from the hospital, she finally opens up and explains how she is recovering from addiction.

With a lot of help from new-found friends in a children's support group, they learn how to better understand the complexities of addiction and recovery -- and most of all, how they're not to blame. Their mother is home and taking things one day at at time; while, like addiction itself, it's not a 100% happily ever after, it's a beautifully hopeful (and realistic!) ending. The back pages are also incredibly detailed and informative with stats, tips on starting dialogues with children about addiction, and helpful resources as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book carries a powerful message with deep empathy, accompanied by calm and gentle illustrations. I could barely hold back my tears—even though I haven’t personally experienced addiction within my family or close circle. Maybe it was simply a different time when access to drugs wasn’t as widespread as it is today.

Who knows how life could have turned out... and I can only hope my children will never feel desperate enough to step into that cycle. But what truly stands out in this book is the reminder that addiction doesn’t only happen to “bad” people—everyone has their own story. A heartbreaking but necessary read.

This was an informative book for children about a very serious topic. I think it was pretty wordy but I imagine that for the right child, it provides just the right amount of information and story to be helpful.

Something Happened to Our Mom sheds light on the dark topic of addiction. I actually added this book to my ARC list, because I myself was looking for resources to speak to my own children about their biological father’s addiction. While this book wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, it provides a great starting point to begin the conversation with young kids who might be affected by their parents’ addiction.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.