If you haven’t already done so, run, don’t walk, to the nearest book store and get a copy of Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis. This is one of the most delightful, charming and positive children’s books on adoption that has come out ln a long time. Not only does it celebrate the birth of a child who was adopted, but it also rejoices in the making of a family. The delightful illustrations are both adorable and humorous.
The little girl who narrates her story obviously knows it by heart (and what adopted child doesn’t know their story by heart), making it perfectly clear that it has been repeated hundreds of times with endless amounts of joy every time. Although any adopted child will come away from this book feeling good about adoption, it may be most appropriate for adoptive families who actually have experienced picking up their child from the hospital. Children who met their forever families at the adoption agency, airport lobby or other location may question why their parents did not pick them up at a hospital. Parents may need to be prepared to answer any questions where their experience was dissimilar to the one in the story.
One of my favorite parts of the book is the page that shows the child’s (and the dog’s) family trees. Instead of showing the typical adoption family tree where the adoptive family is in the branches and the birth family is in the roots of the tree, the faces of the birth parents and the adoptive parents are all smiling in a line above the child. The family members are all drawn from an eight year old’s perspective which makes it even more appealing. What better way to show how much love and caring there is from all parties involved?
In sum this book will do a lot to spread the joy and love that is felt when a child becomes part of a forever family.