Dandelion on My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath: The true story of an amazing family that lived with and loved kids who killed

I became very interested in the case of Beth Thomas after seeing an interview/documentary done in 1989 by HBO called "Child of Rage" about Beth and it was disturbing...to say the very least! I could NOT imagine a child this sick ever recovering. I opened this book yesterday and I'm literally 3/4 of the way through it. In the book they list other people who suffered from RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) to include serial killers Ted Bundy & Jeffrey Dahmer as well as Helen Keller...this doesn't give away any bit of the story...so, trust me, this isn't a spoiler. I would recommend this book to anyone: parents with children who exhibit sociopathic behaviors and even just those who work with children in general. This book will leave you in absolute awe of the power of love and the ability of the human spirit to heal and that love can prevail in even the most dire of situations. Run out an purchase this book...I guarantee that you will walk away feeling enlightened with a warmth in your heart you didn't know possible.

My husband & I are parenting children like the ones Nancy talks about in her book, & her story was an inspiration to us...an inspiration of endurance! Some days, it is hard to comprehend living with such children for yet another day, but Nancy empowers us parents of RADs to persevere & persevere with hope, joy, & love. Her methods have been extraordinarily beneficial to our children, & I think I would have collapsed by now without knowing that someone else out there does indeed understand.Nancy's books are vital, as some states (like mine) have ZERO resources for RAD. We needed to be validated. We needed to know we're not alone, & if her books serve no other purpose, they serve those.True, like others have said, some of the language is hard to read through. It can be far to "flowery" at times & sounds like a high school writing student who's been urged repeatedly to use "descriptive imagery." Well, in a book about RAD, most readers don't care what the mountains or leaves looked like, but considering the weight of most of the content, the unbearable descriptions can be forgiven (or skipped over).Bravo! Bravo! EVERY RAD parent should read this book (as well as Nancy's other books)!

As a foster and adoptive mother with 4 older biological children and 2 younger children we adopted through the foster care system, one of whom has shown some disturbing behavioral traits, I was desperate to learn whatever I could about reactive attachment disorder. I have the highest respect for Nancy Thomas and was so anxious to read this book! I had seen her name mentioned frequently on a foster parent message board, have heard her speak on Christian radio about reactive attachment disorder in children who have been adopted, and have read her book "When Love Is Not Enough: A Guide for Parenting Children with RAD". It is a great tool for any foster/adoptive parent and I highly recommend it.However, my excitement for this particular book, "Dandelions on My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath", which was to tell the personal stories of the seriously disturbed children that Mrs. Thomas and her family took into their home, was very disappointing. She made the drastic mistake of allowing her only biological child to write the book. As a result, there is so much back-patting and so many unnecessary adjectives, that the actual stories were hard to get to. The way the stories were presented was also annoying and confusing.As a busy mom, I don't have alot of extra time to sift through a book to get to the "meat" of the story, and this book could have been condensed by at least 2/3 if it were not written by a family member who was more concerned with being overly "complimentary" or "flattering" than in just telling the story. I loved Mrs. Thomas's other book, but this one was horribly written.

Absolutely couldn't put this book down. I am facinated by the stories of these children and the incredible patience of Nancy Thomas to care for them! Knowing these are true events just makes it more emotionally thrilling of a story with interesting twists and hope. I highly recommend this book to everyone!!

only book I have ever read that I had to put it down, and process the emotions it brought out. True-not a fictional account. Knowing the authors, personally, I can attest to their character and honesty. Even though I knew some of what Nancy faced, I was clueless about the darkness out there in people destroying kids. Wow!

As a foster mom myself, I identified with much of this story. There is so much bad press about foster care in general that it was good to hear the true experiences of someone on the other side of things. These kids do go through some horrifying things which, through no fault of their own, make them a challenge to parent - and often a threat to our own families. This book was a very good insight to dealing with and helping deeply disturbed children. Thank you for sharing your experiences and for doing what you do...

I had to read this book for foster parent training. It was well written with lots of information that I had no clue about. If you have kids in your home (yours or others) I encourage you to read this book.

No complaints here, 5/5

Nancy Thomas is proof that this AFT approach works extremely well for those children with attachment disorders and you cannot but applaude the intuitive passionate work she has given her life to. Wonderful book and exceptional achievement

Great book! Give a good description of what life is like living and working with these tough kids.