Product Description

This adaptation of McCutcheon's song commemorates the day when a child joins an adoptive family. Complete with musical notation, these verses reassure adopted children they are special. Full-color illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39823 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780316603232
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Inspired by a friend's tradition, noted children's singer/songwriter McCutcheon created this original song for those who might like to mark a special anniversary in their family's life?adoption day. His thoughtful lyrics (the score is included, of course) emphasize the joy and wonder of the event?"Out of a world so tattered and torn,/ You came to our house on that wonderful morn/ And all of a sudden this family was born"?and there's a rousing chorus just right for a festive party. In a move sure to accommodate many adoptive families, Paschkis (So Sleepy/Wide Awake) pictures the parents as white and the baby as Asian. Her gouache illustrations have a strong hint of traditional Scandinavian folk art, updated by bold color combinations, and they lend themselves particularly well to the multiethnic cast of friends and family with which she peoples each page. For a pleasingly themed read-aloud or gift, pair this volume with Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell's equally merry Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born (reviewed below). Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-McCutcheon's song, written from the point of view of adoptive parents, is joyous and reassuring-"Whatever you learn, whoever you know,/You've still got a home in our hearts." Paschkis's folklike gouache paintings are attractive and well designed to incorporate the text. However, they illustrate more than the annual celebration. They show scenes of the (Caucasian) adoptive parents making preparations for the baby's arrival, the adoptive parents in an airplane, the (Asian) baby in its new cradle, and the growth of the child. In every scene, everyone is smiling. The song mentions mixed-race and single-parent families: "No matter the skin, we are all of us kin." But another line in that verse sends a confusing message: "No matter how you came to be." That line, from the parents' point of view, is a message of acceptance, but a child may understand it as "It shouldn't matter to you how you came to be." The book reinforces the second interpretation by not picturing the baby before its appearance in the adoptive home, as though it had no history of its own. The relinquishment that precedes adoption does matter to the adoptee but is often hard for adoptive parents to talk about. This book does not help them to do so.
Nancy Schimmel, formerly at San Mateo County Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-7. Paschkis' joyful folk art breathes new life into McCutcheon's upbeat tune about adoption. One of the first lines is "For out of a world so tattered and torn, You came to our house on that wonderful morn." The bright paintings show a white couple who leave their home, fly across the ocean, and return with an Asian baby. Young listeners will spot the same tot three years later surrounded by family and friends at his adoption day party. The peppy prose ("Hip, hip, hip, hooray!") and pictures with large, simple figures, flowing lines, and floral motifs celebrate a world where "no matter the skin, we are all of us kin--We are all of us family." The music, which can be heard on the recording Family Garden, is appended. Julie Corsaro

Customer Reviews

Our family's story
We received this book as a Christmas gift shortly after our 2nd child arrived from Korea. I read it to my daughter at nap time and found myself dissolving into tears. Here was OUR story. This is a delightful book for any adoptive family, especially those with children from Asia. The song is marvellous; we sing it regularly and of course on thoses "adoption day" celebrations.

Wonderful Gift
We received this book (and the companion CD - Family Garden) as a gift for our daughters adoption day. In our family (three kids and counting - by adoption) we celebrate adoption days in much the same way as birthdays with cake, presents songs etc. That is where this book comes in. It is absolutely perfect. On each childs adoption day, they blow out the candles on the cake and we open this book, put in the CD and all sing together. The kids absolutely love it and you can see in their eyes whether it is their day or not, that there is a deep and loving meaning to the whole process which makes this so much more than just a book and a song. As I said to my sister who gave it to us, it is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Wishing you many happy adoption days.

A kind of birthday
Adoption day is a kind of birthday.

Some families (like ours) may choose after a while to celebrate only a child's actual birthday.

Nevertheless, this book is a helpful way to celebrate a child's acceptance into his or her adoptive family, especially for kids adopted at older ages or internationally.

There is nothing wrong with stating that the world is troubled. After all, it is.

But the overall message of this beautifully illustrated volume is one of acceptance and love. It is a keepsake that most adoptive families will cherish.

Hurrah, John McCutcheon! Alyssa A. Lappen