Product Description

Fred Rogers opens the door for adopted children and their parents to safely talk about their good and sometimes not-so-good feelings in a book about the joy of belonging and the love that unites families Reissue .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296098 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In tackling another difficult subject for children, Mr. Rogers of PBS-TV fame stresses that this photo-essay is intended as a jumping-off point to spark family discussions. However-perhaps as a result of providing such leeway-Rogers's text is vague and lacking specific information. He emphasizes the basic need for a loving family unit: "Being in a family means belonging. You could belong in your family by being born into it, or you could belong in your family by being adopted into it." The "how" and "why" questions sure to arise from this simplified presentation are thrown into the reader's court. Rogers also suggests helpful ways for children to deal with feelings that commonly accompany discussions about adoption. Though they seem somewhat posed, Judkis's photos of three ethnically diverse families gives this treatment a believable universality. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K?The premise of this book?that it is good for families to talk about feelings?is a welcome one to apply to the subject of adoption. Rogers presents a simple look at three adoptive families. He includes a brief but reassuring reference to the birthparents and the reasons for their decision. Clear, full-color photos show happy, sad, and angry children and adults; the text suggests that such emotions occur in all families, and states that "being angry doesn't mean that love goes away." This is an improvement over the relentlessly nice family in Valentina Wasson's The Chosen Baby (HarperCollins, 1977). Unfortunately, the first photograph, showing rows of babies in a nursery, is reminiscent of the unreal "chosen child" stories that have made some adoptees feel pressured to continue being wonderful enough to be chosen from the line-up. In Betty Jean Lifton's Tell Me a Real Adoption Story (Knopf, 1994), illustrations show the adoptive parents meeting the pregnant birthmother, giving a more complete and grounded story. Maxine Rosenberg's Being Adopted (Lothrop, 1984) provides more depth and clarity than Rogers does, but (like almost all of the better adoption titles) is for older children.?Nancy Schimmel, formerly of San Mateo County Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A Must Have
As an adoptive parent, I found this simple little book to provide very clear and positive explainations about adoption that are readable to a child of any age. It is a great book to begin introducing the concept of adoption to very young children. It is not very long and it is filled with photographs of many types of families.

Wonderful book for adoptive families!
We purchased this book along with several other adoption-themed books for children. This one by far best explains adoption in a way our children can understand. As a family that has both biological and adopted children, it was important to us to find a book that presents ALL children- adopted or not- as special. Mr. Rogers does a fantastic job, as always, putting it into terms that all children can understand. This book is appropriate for children of all types of adoptions. It seems that too many other adoption books focus on children adopted from overseas or those adopted as infants. This one is flexible enough that it can be used in many different situations.

Thank you, Mr. Rogers!

Wonderful book for young children
We have several children's books about adoption and this is by far my favorite. It focuses on what it means to be a family and how families formed by adoption are just like other families. It emphasizes the importance of talking about our feelings with one another. It discusses how the adopted child may have questions about his or her adoption and that questions are okay to ask. This book is filled with photographs of adoptive families interacting in every day ways. It is much easier for my son to relate to these photos than the cute animals in some of our other adoption books. I definitely recommend this book for adoptive families with young children.