Cynically Sweet (Booklikes)

At My Door by Deb Fitzpatrick tells the story of an unusual package delivered to the Campbell household. Poppy, our main character, comes downstairs to find that the late night delivery is young child. She's a toddler, found clutching a green blanket. The only piece of information about her is a note stating that her name is Mei, with no other clues as to who she is or where she might have come from.

Poppy is a very sweet girl. Her curiousity and confusion at the incident is quite obvious, but at the same time, he's obviously very selfless and does her best to try and take care of little Mei as best she can. I think it was sweet that she was trying to help her parents and taking an interest in the toddler's life. The other characters are quite interesting as well; the parents are very generous to take in the child and even Harry, Poppy's older brother, does various things.

The plot takes the idea of an abandoned child- something that people might not see very often these days (depending on where you live)- and gives a childlike twist. Poppy obviously doesn't really understand why a mother would do that to a child, and nor do we. There isn't a proper explanation to it, save for that the mother might just be experiencing a little bit of financial hardship. I think the overall intention of the book is primarily to introduce children to the idea of babies and what you might do to take care of them. I also think that it introduces a child to the idea that not every family is the same. The Campbell family is in a reasonable state, with happy children and food on the table. However, Mei's family is clearly different; so much so that the mother obviously thought that the Campbell home was better for her child one night. I think it might be interesting for a child, to consider how their own life differs from that of their friends' and how they might take on change if something were to happen.

Overall, the book is fairly upbeat, considering the circumstances, and Poppy tries to keep hopeful about the situation. Though the events could be considered somewhat sad, I liked that each of the characters were generous and did their best to help someone in need. They're obviously good people and I hope that any child reading this might be inspired by such selflessness. Though the book is short and we don't get the whole idea of what's going on, I did like the book and felt that it does its best to teach children a little bit more about life.
I would definitely like to read more of the author's work and anymore books about Poppy and her family. I think it would make a great series for kids!

I won a copy of this book via a First Reads giveaway and these are just my honest thoughts on it.