Favorite Adoption Books

If you or someone you know is adopting, I'd love to share our favorites book for you to stack your bookshelves with. Gifting an adoptive family with a book on adoption is one of the most thoughtful and kind gifts you could give them. Several friends and family have done them for us (even writing notes inside for our kids!) and they are treasures in our home. Well, treasures that now include ripped pages, bent corners, and drooling all over them. 

Most of these stories will make you cry...every. single. time, but they are written with little ones' loss, attachment, questions, insecurity, and bonding needs in mind. Some of these books are also just on Ethiopia/African culture or on interracial families. We have more adoption/Ethiopia related books than the ones I mentioned, but these are my 4- and 5-star recommendations.

And because life is hectic, I'm not reviewing. You just get titles and links to Amazon. You're welcome :) 

In no particular order:

• I Wished for You: an Adoption Story by Richmond
• God Found us You by Bergren and Bryant
• On the Night You Were Born by Tillman
• I Love my Hair by Tarpley
• Zella Zack and Zodiac by Peet
• A Mother for Choco by Kasza
• A Country Far Away by Gray/Dupasquier
• The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia by Araujo
• Where the Sun Kisses the Sea by Gabel
• A Saint and His Lion: The Story of Tekla of Ethiopia by Stone
• African Tales by Mhlophe and Griffen
• E is for Ethiopia by Gudeta, Abate, Mulu, and Boru
• We Belong Together: A Book about Adoption and Families by Parr
• Amharic Vocabulary for Kids from www.amharic.com
• The Lion King...JUST KIDDING!

BONUS: I just saw Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales while adding the links. And now I just might have to buy it! 

I'd LOVE to hear what your must-have adoption/Ethiopia reads are too, especially as our kids get older I'd love more stories resources for them.

Once an Ethiopian...

Addise wore her bright yellow, traditional Ethiopian dress. Judah wore his Amharic, "Ethiopian" t-shirt. It'd been too long since we've had Ethiopian food so we joined some African-loving friends for a traditional meal. We were greeted in warm, Ethiopian hospitality by Aster, which happens to be Addise's middle name. Aster lit up when she met our kids and I asked if she would speak Amharic to our kiddos throughout our meal. She enthusiastically agreed. What happened next nearly gave me a heart attack...

I greeted our friends, corralled Judah and Addise to the table, and began taking our seats. Aster was already leaning over, speaking to Judah in Amharic. She was talking to him and then I heard him say in English, "My name is Judah."

What?!?!

Tears flooded my eyes and I'm sure my face looked like I'd seen a ghost. I gasped at Aster, "he understood you?!?"

"Of course. Once he knows Amharic, it's always in there." she nonchalantly replied. I could hardly process what was happening. My son lived in Ethiopia for 2 1/2 years and has been home for over 2 years. For nearly half his life he's barely heard Amharic. But it all rushed back to the surface.

After an eternity of seconds I pulled myself together and begged her to speak more to him. She joyfully obliged. Throughout our 2-hour lunch Aster asked Judah in Amharic...

"Is she your older sister or younger sister?" ... "She's my little sister."
"Do you want that to drink?" ... "Yes, I want the orange juice like them."
"Thank you for coming here today." ... "Thank you."

A few weeks after this lunch, I'm still overwhelmed at what happened. First of all, my son is smart. Second, he's lost so very much. He lost his language (I'm confident he's lost two: Amharic and his tribal language) at an age when language was so important to his development. Third, we have an opportunity to preserve remnants of his birth language through experiences like this with Aster.

Lunch was amazing. Look at the beauty of Ethiopia through these pictures...

Set-up for a traditional coffee ceremony...a very special Ethiopian tradition.

Addise pretending. Judah indulging her.

True Love.

Traditional Ethiopian meal: doro wat, beef tibs and vegetables on injera.

Judah INHALED the lunch and ate just like an Ethiopian, with the flick of his wrist picking up the doro wat with a hunk of injera. It was food to my soul to watch his roots come to life!!!

After lunch was over we splurged on the coffee ceremony, which includes burning frankincense and nibbling on popcorn. One of my favorite things about Ethiopian culture!!!

Empty coffee cup with the colors of Ethiopia and the Lion of Judah. Full heart.

We will be back for more. Often. Soon.

An Advocate for Orphans!

Do you know this woman? Her name is Irena Sendler. And she is a heroine!

She died on May 12, 2008 at the age of 98 years old in Warsaw, Poland.

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive.

Irena smuggled Jewish infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried. She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck, for larger kids.

Irena kept a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids and infants.

Ultimately, she was caught, however, and the Nazi's broke both of her legs and arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she had smuggled out in a glass jar that she buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and tried to reunite the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. (Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.)