Our Baby from China: An Adoption Story

Rating:
Summary: My daughter loves this book!
Review: Although I would agree with other readers about one sentence in the book, otherwise it is a factual account of what my husband and I did in China when we adopted her. It is true that many children in China do not have mothers and fathers to love them, but I could tell my daughter that that is also true here in the US. Olivia is 3 and this book is a great way to talk about how she came into our family on her level. She asks to read the story of Ariela "Shanway" every night!!! It makes her feel good that this little girl shares her story.

It is only one tool that we use in our family to talk about her life before in China and after we came to China to bring her into our family!

Julie Gaglione
Mom to Livvy from Yangchun, PRC



Rating:
Summary: Not 'adoptee' friendly
Review: I was anxiously awaiting this book only to open and find that the first page indicated the Chinese peoples'/birthparents inability to love these children...
When in fact it is culture and history thousands of years old which force Chinese parents to make a plan of adoption. A loving decision considering their difficult circumstances.
I want to share a loving story with my daughter, not one which implies that love only comes from the adoptive family.

Rating:
Summary: For the love of a child
Review: In a mere 25 pages, with simple text and beautiful pictures, the story of a China adoption unfolds. My own China girl loves looking through the pictures and seeing the country of her birth. She never tires of it. It is not only her story but hundred's of Chinese children's story. My favorite picture is of the two pairs of quilted children's pants, hanging from the clothes line. Thank you for sharing this story! A good addition for your personal library.

Rating:
Summary: For the love of a child
Review: In a mere 25 pages, with simple text and beautiful pictures, the story of a China adoption unfolds. My own China girl loves looking through the pictures and seeing the country of her birth. She never tires of it. It is not only her story but hundred's of Chinese children's story. My favorite picture is of the two pairs of quilted children's pants, hanging from the clothes line. Thank you for sharing this story! A good addition for your personal library.

Rating:
Summary: A STORY TO WARM HEARTS
Review: Our Baby from China/An Adoption Story by Nancy D'Antonio will warm hearts.

Filled with full-color photographs, very much like a family album, this is the true story of a couple who traveled across the world to adopt a child they had learned to love in a photograph. It is also a reminder that love transcends race and nationality.

Rating:
Summary: A STORY TO WARM HEARTS
Review: Our Baby from China/An Adoption Story by Nancy D'Antonio will warm hearts.

Filled with full-color photographs, very much like a family album, this is the true story of a couple who traveled across the world to adopt a child they had learned to love in a photograph. It is also a reminder that love transcends race and nationality.

Rating:
Summary: A pretty good model
Review: This book is actually a pretty good model of a scrap book or photo book you could put together for your own Chinese child (if you have adopted one) or a good way for other children to learn some basics about a China adoption.

Some of these reviews seem to take one line in the book out of context. Although I lead a charity whose mission is to help Chinese adoptees feel good about being Chinese and proud of their heritage, I don't think anything in the book could be construed as harmful. Its factual. Yes, most adoptees probably have birth parents who abandoned these children for very understandable reasons, the fact remains, that these children can no longer be loved by their birth parents in any way that is likely to benefit the child. Sure the birth parents might still love the child in a spiritual sense, but we don't know that and cannot know that and to tell your child otherwise is to tell your child something you don't know. Psychologists warn against doing that.

But to focus on one line in this book is to miss the point. This book tells a story that is positive and that I am sure most adoptees can relate to in a healthy way. In actual fact, I will borrow the idea and put together a book for our Chinese children.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice book
Review: We are adopting from China. This book is an excellent ice breaker. We put it on our coffee table and it has appealed to my 75 year old father in law and my 5 year old niece. Everybody falls in love with the cute little girl. It puts a face on the abstract and foreign (excuse the pun) concept of international adoption.