This week’s Adoption Magazine blog hop is about children’s books.
What are your favourite* adoption-themed children’s books?
Because my children are in bed, and their books are in their rooms, I’m doing this from memory. We have a boatload of adoption-related children’s books. Fortunately, I remember my favorites.
- The Best for You, by Kelsey Stewart ~ I wrote a complete review of this book, about domestic infant adoption from a birthmother’s point of view.
- Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, by Jamie Lee Curtis ~ This book has a few problems, the biggest one being the lack of birth parents, but it’s a good beginner’s book. I also recommend it for families without immediate ties to adoption to have in their libraries.
- Rosie’s Family: An Adoption Story, by Lori Rosove ~ I wrote a review of this book when I wrote for AdoptionBlogs.com. It introduces some of the sad feelings that a child may have about being adopted.
Yes, of all of our books, those are the ones that stand out. But that makes a really short post, so I’ll mention a few more that we own:
- I always see people mention A Mother for Choco, by Keiko Kasza, and that’s certainly all right. I don’t like that Choco is totally abandoned and we have no idea what happened to his birthmother.
- Joanna Cole’s How I Was Adopted is also acceptable, but not one of my favorites. It does talk about birth, which is good, because apparently, adopted kids of old often thought they were not born, just adopted.
- I Wished for You, by Marianne Richmond focuses on the adoptive mother’s feelings a bit too much for my taste, but it is sweet.
- We Belong Together, by Todd Parr is uneven. I don’t like some of his reasons for adoption. It’s a little too “adopted kids should be grateful” in places.
- I have a full review of David Kirk’s Little Miss Spider in mind. (Spoiler alert: I’m not a huge fan.)
I’m always on the lookout for more books!
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* Did I mention Adoption Magazine is Canadian?
Hi Robyn! I like your point about Mother for Choco. It has been one of my favorites; I’ve caught that same problem in other books, but missed it in Choco…
I’ve got a collection of adoption book reviews here: http://www.adoptionlcsw.com/p/kids-books.html – maybe some will be new to you!
Hi Addison!
I have been reading your blog, though I rarely comment (I read a lot on my phone). I had not seen the book list, but I’ve really appreciated the movie reviews. I’ll check out the books. Thanks!
I’ve been working on a review of Rosie’s Family to post next week. I love it, too, but have a few concerns about it and hope you read it and respond. I’m curious to know what you think.
Luanne
I’ll definitely read it – I read your blog daily. I just don’t usually comment because I have to read on my phone. I’ll make sure to read the review in Safari so I can comment.