Over 2 percent of all children in the US are adopted. In our own communities, there are thousands of families for which this is an important piece of their family history. Books on the subject can be focused on the child, the siblings and the parents. The topics range from fertility issues, foster parenting, birth parents, blended families, international adoption and child rearing. Just the tip of the iceberg, here are a few…
Happy Adoption Day!
By John McCutcheon, illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Folksinger McCutcheon’s song about adoption is a favorite. Bright watercolors show the family’s trip to bring their baby home. A multicultural party for this special day is broad enough to include any family, and brings home the message of intentional love. Ages 2-6.
I love you like Crazy Cakes
By Rose Lewis, illustrated by Jane Dyer
This book is a quiet love letter from a mother to her new baby girl from China. Written from personal experience, Lewis pulls at your heartstrings as you see her completely falling in love with her baby. A sweet memory to the birthmother will bring tears. Ages 4-8.
Little Lost Bat
By Sandra Markle, illustrated by Alan Marks
Beautiful watercolors bring Bracken Cave to life. This is a gentle and loving story of a baby bat that loses its mother to a barn owl. Hungry and alone, surrounded by millions of other bats, the story brings facts and emotion together when a childless mother bat steps in to care for him. Ages 4-8.
Tell Me Again, About the Night I was Born
By Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell
I’m always leery to recommend books by “celebrity” writers, but Curtis surprises me. Her self-esteem book, I’m Gonna Like Me, is on my bookshelf. The comforting words in the title Tell Me Again… repeat their way into your heart. You will “cry happy tears.” Any child will find comfort in a loving family. Ages 4-8.
My Adopted Child, There’s No One Like You
By Kevin Leman, illustrated by Kevin Leman II
The guru of birth order tackles the subject of adoption. Truly about the specialness of every child, appropriate even for parents considering adoption. Ages 3-8.
Although Julie Hubble lives in Leawood, Kansas, her family lives all over the world.