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Terri Kelley is the author of over thirty children's chapter and picture books, including the "Writing is a Process" series, the "Gingerly" series, and many other books.
Terri spent ten years teaching elementary and middle school kids how to read and write. She enjoys learning and can usually be found creating a new story or reading an old one. She has completed a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and over 30 hours towards a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She encourages everyone to continue to learn throughout their lives.
Terri is happily married to Michael, her best friend. They live in Oakridge, Oregon with their black Labrador, Oliver. Terri has three grown children, six grown step-children, and ten grandkids.
Reviewed by Katelyn Hensel for Readers' Favorite
Birthday Surprise is a sweet story that deals with an issue that many children go through: adding a sibling to the family dynamic. Terri Kelley hits another home run with this one, creating a lovely story about a girl, her birthday, and a little surprise. The main character is the apple of her parent's eyes, and like many only children, reacts less than enthusiastically when she finds out she is going to have a baby brother. The new baby comes on the most unfortunate of days: her birthday! At first she feels alone and miserable, but soon she realizes that her brother is the best present she could have asked for and she and her family start to discover how to live in their new, bigger family.
While the story was good in Birthday Surprise, I really liked the drawings in this one particularly. While not extremely realistic, they are also very pretty and detailed. The people themselves were nicely done, lacking any kind of "cartoony" quality, and I think these are the kinds of drawings an older child would appreciate. The imagery was beautiful, using captivating "shots" to show off height, weight, and a true dimension that isn't often seen in children's books. My particular favorite was a funny close-up of the main character's usual birthday present: pancakes! I also really liked how the language was lyrical and full of cuteness. It was easy to see how a child could be speaking, and I'm sure many children will relate.
