48 p., Philomel, 2009. Narrated in the voice of a little girl grown up, this story recounts memories of growing up in a warm, loving family. The two moms, Meema and Marmee, have three children by adoption, each of a different ethnic background. The narrator remembers dancing with her family, celebrating holidays together, having block parties, being sick with a tummy virus, building a tree house, hosting the school's mother-daughter tea, and enjoying Nonno's (grandfather's) cooking. She loves that everyone in the family can speak freely, and recalls tenderly how her moms would do anything for the children. One neighbor is clearly prejudiced against them, which Meema and Marmee explain to the children as being full of fear and lacking in love; the family's other neighbors offer them support. When the children grow up and leave home, they return to marry in their mothers' garden and to share their own children's growing up with Meema and Marmee. After Meema and Marmee die, the narrator's younger brother lives in their house with his family. The house is home to the three now-grown children in the deepest sense of the word. With expressive pencil and marker illustrations, this story celebrates the joys of family life. Ages 7-10
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families by Todd Parr
32 p., Little, Brown, 2007. There are so many reasons that families belong together. This story names some of them, from “you needed a home and I had one to share,” to “you needed someone to say ‘I love you’ and we had love to give.” The only time the word adoption is mentioned is in the subtitle. An author’s note suggests that families change the pronouns in the text to fit their own families, and the pictures suggest single-mom, single-dad, mom-and-dad, two-mom, and two-dad families that are yellow, blue, orange, green, red, or purple. An afterword for kids explains that love makes a family. With its energetic, childlike illustrations, this book conveys a positive sense of families fitting together perfectly. Ages 2-6
Megan's Birthday Tree: A Story About Open Adoption by Laurie Lears
Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. 32 p., Whitman, 2005. In an open adoption, children may explicitly maintain connection with their birth parent(s).. For Megan, one form this connection takes is a tree in her birth mother, Kendra's, yard when Megan was born. Kendra tells Megan that the tree reminds her of her, and every year on Megan's birthday, she sends her a photo of the tree. When Kendra announces plans to move, Megan worries that she won't have the tree in her new home, and so she might forget Megan. She tries to grow a tree for Kendra, but that doesn't work. So she saves all her money to buy Kendra a tree, even earning some by doing extra chores at home. But she doesn't have enough money to buy a tree, and declines her father's financial help, because she wants to do this on her own. Her next plan is to dig up a little tree in the yard to give to Kendra. As she's doing this, Kendra arrives for a visit. She explains to Megan that she doesn't need anything to help her remember her, and that she always will. Megan understands this. But it also turns out that Kendra has dug up the original birthday tree from her yard to take to her new house. Megan feels lucky to be part of this family. Illustrated with wistful oil paintings, this story celebrates the connections of adopted children with both their parents and their birth parents. Ages 6-9
Wind-Wild Dog by Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrated by Kate Kiesler. 40 p., Holt, 2006. Some children who are adopted, particularly at relatively older ages, may experience mixed feelings about their connection and belonging with their new family. In the life of a sled dog, this story provides a metaphor for this experience. Ziva is the last puppy to be adopted from her litter, at least partly because they’re spooked by her having one brown eye and one blue one. But she is finally adopted by the Man, who is kind and gentle to her. He has some of the wildness that Ziva experiences in herself, and he understands her wildness. When Ziva is ready to train, she finds that she loves pulling weight. But still, she sometimes wants to run wild. One day, Ziva helps to pull a sled for the first time. At a rest stop, runs off into the snow, delighting in her strength. She meets a wolf, and as she smells its fur, she smells her own fur too, and realizes that she smells wild, but also smells like the Man. She misses him, and runs back to him, to a loving reunion with him. Expressively illustrated with oil paintings in brown and blue tones, this story offers empathy with the mixed feelings that some adopted children may experience, and a model for resolution. Ages 4-8
Every Year on Your Birthday by Rose Lewis
Illustrated by Jane Dyer. 32 p., Little, Brown, 2007. Adoption can bring special thoughts on a birthday. Every year on her daughter's birthday, a European American mother lovingly remembers all of her daughter's previous birthdays, and how much she has grown up. She imagines her daughter's life in China as a newborn, and remembers her anticipation of adopting her. Together, mother and daughter, who enjoy both American and Chinese traditions, remember the girl's Chinese family, and feel a sense of connection between the two families. Illustrated with watercolor paintings that are both gentle and exuberant, this story celebrates the love of a multicultural adoptive family. Ages 3-6
Horace by Holly Keller
32 p., Greenwillow, 1991. When you're adopted, it can be confusing to look different from your parents. Horace is a leopard who has been adopted into a tiger family. Although his mother tells him daily that she and his father chose him, and like his spots, he doesn't always grasp the full meaning of this. Horace's cousins come to his birthday party, and they're all tigers. Horace feels sad because he experiences himself as different and "wrong." After dreaming of being someplace where everyone looked like him, he decides to look for that place. While visiting a carnival, he meets a family of leopards and enjoys playing with them. But he starts to miss his Mama and Papa, and trusting his instincts, he decides to go home. His parents welcome him, and he decides that he chooses them, too. Illustrated with charming ink-and-watercolor paintings that are exuberant without being overstimulating, this story offers empathy to adopted children who don't look like their families and understanding that family connection goes beyond appearance. Ages 4-7
Nikolai, the Only Bear by Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrated by Renata Liwska 32 p., Philomel, 2005. Nikolai is the only bear in a Russian orphanage. Although he does what his caregivers ask, they don't realize this because they don't speak Bear. Eventually, a bearded man and a smooth-faced woman come to visit him. Nikolai seems to know instinctively that the "fur-faced" man is like him. The visitors seem to understand him too: instead of correcting Nikolai the way his caregivers do, they join him, growling in response to his growls, prowling on the floor with him, pawing the air when Nikolai does. Having found a family where he belongs, Nikolai goes home with them to America. This gently illustrated story celebrates the experience of belonging that comes with adoption. Ages 3-7
We Wanted You by Liz Rosenberg
Illustrated by Peter Catalanotto. 27 p., Roaring Brook Press, 2002. In the voice of adoptive mother and father, this book tells a boy how much he has always been wanted, even before he was born. The illustrations show the boy as a high school graduate and then younger and younger in each picture, until the parents finally describe his adoption in early infancy. The parents explain that although they weren't his first parents, they waited for him and cared for him, and the boy and the parents belong to each other. The illustrations fast-forward to the boy's departure for college as a young man, his parents again saying how much they've always wanted him, up to and including this moment. This story offers children the sense of having a whole lifetime together with adoptive parents. Ages 3-7