Wednesday, January 4, 2012

BOOK REVIEW

Adoptive parents want to be able to share their child's adoption story in a way that isn't traumatic or sensationalistic.  Using a book or two to open the conversation and plant the seed so that they can explain their own child's presence in their family and how they got there is one of the ways to do that.  Very young children can grasp the concept when told in simple terms how they became a part of their family.  "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" by Jamie Lee Curtis opens the door to discussion about adoption and how it came to be.  It talks about the phone call, the excitement, the plane flight, the hospital, and many firsts.  It provides an opportunity to talk about each of the aspects of that exciting time with the child and to provide the details of his or her specific birth and adoption.  It should be a part of every adopted child's library and can be purchased through Amazon.com on this site.  Along those lines, we will have another story book coming out very soon that deals with the same topic in poem form, with an animal perspective.  I would love to hear if anyone has books that they recommend to help a child adapt to the concept of adoption.  A child should never be able to say "I was told I was adopted when I was (a certain age) ...", citing the precise moment they found out. They should be able to say that they have always known they were adopted for as long as they could remember. 

2 comments:

Kristen said...

Would this be a good book for international adoption? Or is it specific to adoption at birth?

alaboroflove said...

Kristen, I'm not sure this one would be the best for international adoption because it's pretty specific about how the parents found the child. My book, "How Will You Find Me?" is designed for children of any type of adoption, foreign or domestic, any race child, and any age child, up to perhaps 8 or 9. It is designed to open the conversation about adoption so that you can then tell your own adoption story, and even a young child can understand from this book that there are many types of families (using different types and ways that animals are born and raised). You can find it at www.howwillyoufindme.com, which is the publishers website, or you can find it on amazon.com.