Product Description

Sam has a joyful story to tell, one completely her own, yet common to millions of families -- the story of how she was adopted. Most of all, it's a story about love. And in the end, Sam's story comes full circle, inviting young readers to share stories of how they were adopted.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84209 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-28
• Released on: 1999-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW commended the cheerful and informative approach to adoption in a book that is "perfect for sharing in any family." Ages 4-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2?Samantha tells about her daily life and her memories, including being told that she was adopted and, later, being shown a book about how babies are born and learning that "I did not grow inside Mommy's uterus. I grew in another woman's uterus" and, still later, asking and being told how she was adopted (a closed adoption through an agency, placement at one week). Samantha is smiling in all of the 28 cartoon-style illustrations in which readers can see her face (except one of her as a week-old baby looking startled by the camera, one as a baby asleep, and one as a toddler intently rolling a ball). She is never sad, cranky, or even pensive. Her parents are always smiling. The pictures she draws are of smiling people. In the five-page introduction for parents, Cole says that "The important thing is to create a loving atmosphere in which children's feelings?both positive and negative?can be shared openly over time." However, not a single negative feeling is mentioned, or even hinted at in the book itself. This title will not encourage open sharing of feelings, and could even be harmful to adopted children by reinforcing the idea that they have to be cheerful, no matter what, in order to be accepted by their adoptive family. It holds the parents to an unreal standard too. Fred Rogers's Let's Talk about It: Adoption (Putnam, 1995), while vague on some points, does show a normal range of feelings. Betty Lifton's Tell Me a Real Adoption Story (Knopf, 1994) includes the birthmother as a person with feelings, not just a uterus.?Nancy Schimmel, formerly of San Mateo County Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-7. This picture book about adoption is much better than Fred Rogers' Let's Talk about It: Adoption (1995), which gives a warm view of families but isn't much help in explaining what adoption is and how it happens. And it doesn't have the obvious underlying agenda of Betty Lifton's Tell Me a Real Adoption Story (1994), with its strong plea for open adoption. Cole expertly negotiates a middle course that provides children with some excellent, age-appropriate background on adoption within the context of a slight but satisfying fictional profile of a happy, energetic child growing up in a loving home. Chambliss' sweet illustrations add warmth to little Samantha's telling, which follows her from birth--" before I was adopted, I was born" (a baby's birth is tastefully pictured)--to her placement by an adoption counselor and evolution into a child with a strong self-concept, shaped, in part, by two caring parents. In a several-page preface written for parents, Cole encourages grown-ups to communicate honestly with their children and explains what she hopes to achieve in the telling of her story. It's pretty safe to say that she achieves a great deal. Stephanie Zvirin

Customer Reviews

Future Adoptive Parent
This was a good book, but for a slightly older child. It goes into a bit more detail than I was expecting as far as where baby's come from. It was not graphic in anyway, but would likely trigger questions that I wouldn't want to address with a young child.

Looks like the perfect adoption book for kids, but.....
I bought this book to help me introduce the concept of adoption to my 3 1/2 year old daughter. The story is absolutely perfect - the little girl in the story tells how she is adopted and asks the reader "were you adopted too?" My husband and I thought we found the perfect book until you get to a page which rather graphically depicts a baby coming out of a woman's womb. If you are ready to explain that to your child, it is the perfect adoption book to start with. We weren't, however, ready to go as far as explaining the uterus, and how the baby comes out, etc. It was disappointing because this book was so cute and many childern's adoption books out there feature sort of weird, outdated-looking illustrations. Both my husband and I felt that for the very young child, this book gives a little too much info.

Better than some
Adoption stories are so unique and individual that it is really difficult to buy a book based on someone else's experience and be able to use it to explain your own child's adoption experience. This one is better than some, in that it doesn't skirt or ignore the issue of the birthmother, however it also gets into some anatomical detail of reproduction and birth that are not necessary when providing your preschooler with the initial details of his or her adoption. Our son is 3 and we have put this away for a few years, it is definately not appropriate for him at this time.

The fact your child was adopted should not come as a shock to them at some later point in their lives, but the details and facts you give should be based on their age and stage of development. I think involving details of some mystery mother at an age before they are able to understand the biological facts of life is unnecessary.

Unless your child is ready to grasp the details of pregnancy and birth, look for another book to help explain their adoption.