Adoption Book Reviews

At SixSeeds, we believe in the power of a good story.  The books our children are hearing and reading will move, inspire, and sometimes even shape their lives... even young lives. This week, we take a popular kids' book and examine it. Hopefully, the next time you're browsing though a crowded bookstore, our reviews will help you sort through the thousands of titles…  and you can choose wisely!

Adoption Month has been quite a testimony to the power of profound love changing the entire course of lives. As more than forty families have shared their journeys this month, common threads have emerged. Heartbreaking losses often precede homecoming celebrations.    What seemed like senseless disappointments turned out to be pivotal points in the process. Seemingly small events were profoundly significant later.   

A mother designed a shirt with daisies (to raise money for adoption) while her soon-to-be daughter, named Daisy, was sitting in an orphanage in Uganda. The birthday of another child matches an incredible journal entry on that day. The list goes on and on  and serves as a reminder that the timing is sometimes frustrating but always right.

This week we continue to pay tribute to the adoption story by reviewing four new adoption books, three of which feature the child telling their story and our fourth book is from the parents’ perspective.

Title: Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies

Author: Ann Turner

Illustrator: James Graham Hale

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age:  4-8

Cost: $6.95

Buy it here:  Amazon

In Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies, a young boy recalls the story of how he came from an orphanage to live with his Poppa and Momma.  He remembers their pictures, which were for so long his only connection to the home that awaited him in America, as well as the intimidating plane ride away from all that was familiar.

The illustration of the child meeting his parents for the first time in the airport is exceptionally touching for anyone who has ever participated in welcoming an adopted child home.

Title:  Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born

Author: Jamie Lee Curtis

Illustrator: Laura Cornell

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age:  4-8

Cost: $6.99

Buy it here: Amazon

In Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born, a child adopted at birth tells the story of the night she was born. She recites her adoptive parents’ experience in detail, which conveys they delighted over her. The watercolor illustrations and the book itself are a fun, yet touching account of a domestic adoption.

Title:  Forever Footprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children

Author: Sherrie Eldridge

Illustrator: Rob Williams

Publisher: EMK group

Age:  5-12

Cost: $17.95

Buy it here: Amazon

Lucie uses Aunt Grace’s pregnant tummy as an opportunity to think about her own birth parents and fingerprints are used as a symbol of a connection that Lucie will forever have to her birth parents. This book offers tools to help an adoptive child connect the past and the present.

Title:  Welcome Home, Forever Child

Author & Illustrator: Christine Mitchell

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Age: 4-9 

Cost: $9.00

Buy it here: Amazon

This simple rhyming book is written for children adopted as toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond.  The canine mother and father assure their daughter of how they lovingly anticipated her arrival and their life together.

Although we’ve missed some things, it’s true,

We have a lifetime now with you.

The Bottom Line:

These sensitive story lines are all handled well and would each make an appropriate addition to a library of an adoptive family (or to any family who wants to expose their children to the wonderful subject of adoption)!

For Parents to Consider:

Rob Williams, in Forever Fingerprints gives this advice….

As parents, we need to come to terms with the parts of the story of how our children came to be with us that are hard to hear or that trigger our own feelings. Pregnancy questions can be hard for some of those who have experienced infertility. Suggesting a connection between yourself and your child’s birth parents might be hard. You might be concerned by the idea of connection, either real or emotional. Maybe there are hard truths in the past of your child and the reality of the story is difficult to deal with. Or your child has birth siblings who are currently being parented by his birth parents. There could be many difficult truths that stop us parents from talking about our children’s past and their birth history. It is our job as parents to make sense of our own issues so that we move beyond them and help our children.

Considering The Children:

All three of my children were meant to be my children even though each of their "coming home" stories looks different…  Rebekah Wright.

I would give anything to go back and give you a different first year of life. And I mean anything. You should never doubt your strength. And you should never doubt your purpose. The world said you were abandoned, fatherless, unwanted, and alone. But God made us a family. This was God's perfect plan for you. He brings beauty out of ashes. He has done so for you and for me. When I look at you, I know what redemption looks like….  Andrea Ferrell.

We truly believe everything happens for a reason. The experience of Gabriella gave us such compassion, insight and an even deeper gratitude for birth mothers… Gordon Family.

In an effort to be real, I want to tell you. Adoption is wonderful and beautiful and the greatest blessing I have ever experienced. Adoption is also HARD and painful. Adoption of older children is a beautiful picture of redemption. It is the GOSPEL in my living room. And sometimes, it just stinks. 
As a child, it stinks to remember your biological parents’ death, no matter how much you love your new Mom. It stinks to have your mom be a different color than you because, inevitably, people are going to ask why. It stinks that your Mom wasn’t there for all the times you had no dinner and all the times you were sick and all the times you needed help with your homework. It stinks when you have to make up your birthday. It skinks when you can’t understand the concept of being a family forever because your first family wasn’t forever…. And every single day, it is worth it… Katie Davis.

I mourned the fact that this was such a hard part of Amelia’s story.  For me, the hard part was waiting.  For her, she had to be abandoned.  She had to go through the sorrow of losing the voice she knew in the womb.  She had to lose so much at such a young age.  I knew this was how God was going to get our daughter to us, but I wish she did not have to go through so much.  I also mourned for Amelia’s birth mom.  It was so hard to imagine what that woman went through to give Amelia a chance at life.  I am sure her birth mother loved her.  She could have aborted her, like many chose to do in China.  She chose to give Amelia a chance.  I am always grateful for that… Wendy Twit.

We are giving away four adoption books this week! Please leave a comment for a chance to win. We always love to hear from you.

On one week from publication at noon (EST), we'll pick FOUR names in a random drawing from all eligible entries received and send you an email notification.  When you receive your package in the mail, you'll find out which book you received!

Limit one (1) entry per person; NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington D.C. who are 18 or older as of date of entry.