Being an Only Child Isn't So Bad
By Shannon Maughan, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 8/30/2007
Did you know that both the author and editor of What’s So Bad About Being an Only Child? (FSG/Kroupa, Sept.) are only children? Author Cari Best and her longtime editor Melanie Kroupa both grew up without siblings, the same situation lamented by young Rosemary, the spunky protagonist of Best’s latest, who longs to have a bigger family.
“The idea came from Cari,” Kroupa said. “She’s an only child and she knew that I was an only child, too. When she started thinking about telling her story, Cari discovered just how many people she knows who are only children, and how many people in the world are only children.” In fact, it’s estimated that there are 20 million single-child families in the United States.
Kroupa is hoping that the book, which is illustrated by Sophie Blackall, has a reach even beyond that sizeable number. “I think it will strike a chord with kids and parents in those families especially, and I hope that kids with siblings will find something in it, too. Even kids who have brothers and sisters can relate to being the center of attention, being surrounded by adults and feeling the intense focus that is put on a child coming into a family.”
And there may be a readership that falls into the “grass is always greener” camp, too. “Sometimes kids who have siblings want to be only children,” Kroupa said with a laugh.
Over the course of the project, author, editor and illustrator discussed many of the feelings only children have, trying to capture just the right tone for the text and art. “Everybody’s experience is unique, of course, but some things are so typical of everyone who’s an only child,” Kroupa said. “There are advantages and disadvantages. As an only child, when you get older you don’t have siblings to help you care for your parents or shoulder a family crisis. And sometimes being an only child can be incredibly lonely, so you develop inner resources—I was a huge reader—that help you compensate for not having the fuller life experience of having siblings around.”
Early feedback on the book has been positive. At BEA and ALA this summer, Kroupa noted, “People responded to the title, the jacket and the idea of the book. They came up to the booth and said things like ‘That looks like fun,’ or ‘I was an only child,’ or ‘I know some only children.’ It has triggered a very personal kind of reaction.”
Though Best seems to have hit on an interesting societal trend, she didn’t take a calculated aim at it. “Cari wanted to set the record straight, to dispel the myth that only children are selfish, spoiled and have everything they could ever want,” said Kroupa. “What Rosemary wanted most, she couldn’t have. But she ends up valuing herself and bringing about change without whining. We all have to learn there are things we can’t have.”
