Guest Author - Mindy Graham

Adoption is a gift, and it can be something that is created out of love or tragedy, either way it is important to address the reality of adoption with your child. In some cases it may seem easier (for you) to simply ignore the issue or keep it quiet, but the reality is that your child deserves to know the reality that no they were not born from your womb but yes they were born in your hearts, and no you don’t share blood but yes you do share love.

A book I love that addresses the issue of adoption at an age appropriate level is Shaoey and Dot by Mary Beth and Steven Chapman.

This family has been in the news lately for a very unfortunate tragedy involving one of their daughters and one of their sons, when one their teenage son unintentionally ran over his adopted little sisters. My heart goes out to them in this time of grief.

That being said, the family is a gift to adoption and have advocated, written about, and participated in the adoption community in so many ways. The book Shaoey and Dot is an excellent way to introduce to your child what it means to be adopted, with out going into the complicated, and sometimes tragic realities of their pasts.

It is about the journey of a sweet baby girl who is accompanied by dot, an ever so sweet ladybug who befriends this baby and doesn’t once leave her side. It shows this little baby’s journey to the orphanage and the life this sweet one has there. Telling about how well taken care of she was but there was always an empty spot in the little ones heart that could only be filled by a family.

And then of course the most crucial moment.

The moment this angels family comes to find their little one, and take that very special flight to a brand new forever home.

The book was written about adoption from China, and the illustrations reflect that, but in reality this book is perfect for any adoption situation and for any child.

I hope you and your own adopted angel enjoy this book as much as I did and that this will be the beginning of their journey to understand how special it is that you had to hunt the whole earth just for them!