The winner of January’s book review contest is Phaedra Holtzclaw. Phaedra won a free copy of the children’s book, Mama’s Wish/Daughter’s Wish by Debbie Blackington and Brynne Blackington.
You can win a copy of the book I review in today’s post by subscribing to my mailing list at www.laurachristianson.com.
Adoption Is…
By D. A. Royster
Where do you begin talking about adoption with young
children? In the illustrated children’s book, “Adoption Is…” debut author D.A.
Royster looks at adoption through the eyes of an African American boy.
The story begins at an elementary school, as Michael and his
classmates are learning about families. Michael asks the question, “Do you know
what adoption is?” When no one pipes up, Michael shares his adoption story with
his classmates.
Two things make this book unique: The illustrations depict
Michael being adopted as an infant, but he mentions that he lived in a foster
home before his parents adopted him. Many people envision infants as being
adopted straight from their birth mothers’ arms – I like the fact that Michael
lived with foster parents first – it gives us a different perspective on the
“typical” adoption story.
Both Michael and his (adoptive) parents are black, which a
lovely departure from the adoption book norm. Usually, children’s books show Caucasian families adopting children of
color or whites adopting whites.
The 35-page book is a simple, colorful story that does a
nice job normalizing adoption for pre-schoolers and early elementary age
children. The author suggests that her book is suitable reading for bedtime,
during a library story hour, with Sunday school groups and during a classroom
discussion.
To order, visit http://www.adoptionis.com/.
US $15.99/$23.95 CAN (Hardcover)