Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Some of you may have read about this already at A Fuse #8 Production this week, but we’re going to post the same content, as passed on to us from author Rose Kent. Here is an announcement about November being National Adoption Month, in the words of Ms. Kent:

. . . I’m on a mission to get lots of people thinking about this in the kidlit world. There are plenty of reasons to acknowledge adoption. Of course an adopted mom and an author with a book featuring an adopted protagonist would say that, right? But the reasons go beyond my kids & my story.

It turns out, we live in a big ol’ adoption nation. Studies show that one hundred million people have someone adopted in their family — that’s a third of us in the US. But it also turns out many, many Americans are clueless on what adoption is & isn’t. At a recent school visit I talked about adoption and a little girl raised her hand and said, “Adoption is when movie stars fly planes faraway and get babies from dirty orphanages.” (I kid you not.) Many adoptive families I know tell me they are stopped out in public and asked questions like, “How much did your son cost?” Or if they have more than one child (who doesn’t look like them), “Are they REALLY brother and sister?”

I know we can do better than that at informing children on adoption. And I don’t suggest there is always malice involved here — sometimes it’s simply a lack of understanding (and in some cases, insensitivity.) The more understanding we can promote of adoption (and other forms of family — single parent, step, divorced, gay-lesbian, headed by grandparents, etc), the better off we all are. And I know you believe books & story help to this
end . . .

. . . If you are interested, here’s a terrific organization that strives to promote understanding about adoption. They offer a terrific guide on the subject, too, for educators.

And for children’s lit titles on adoption, one can always start here and link away to other consumer reviews.