November is National Adoption Month. November 23rd is National Adoption Day.
I was recently received a complimentary copy of the book Born from the Heart by Berta Serrano to review.
It’s described by the publisher as “is an emotional journey of two people becoming parents through the process of adoption, showing how some children may not be born from bodies, but were carried in their parents hearts.”
The story creates a quirky parallel between a biological pregnancy and an emotional pregnancy. There are even clever (or awkward) illustrations of the mother’s heart growing as the “pregnancy” progresses.
Maybe it’s the ages our children came to us (1 as a toddler and 3 as adolescents) or maybe it’s the way we’ve been open about their stories (including the multiple “moms” in their lives), but this book did not really resonate with my kids. Out of the six of them, only our 10-year-old even figured out it was about adoption. The rest of our kids still process things too literally.
Judging from the interview with the author during the book trailer, this book seemed hugely therapeutic for her. Perhaps, even though meant to be a children’s storybook, this book would ring stronger to the adoptive mom population.
Alternatively, if you’re trying to avoid the “Where do babies come from?” question (we aren’t…our 6 year old already knows about sex), this could even be a cute story for children who aren’t adopted.
While conceptually the book is peculiar, the illustrations are bright and beautiful.
Have you read this book? I’d love to know your thoughts.
Need a copy? Enter below to win a free one or purchase it here.
Our child isn’t home yet, and won’t be for a long time, but our social worker recommended we just practice telling the story over and over, while she’s still little and can’t understand it, and it ill eventually feel natural. That’s our plan for now! 🙂
Sounds interesting! I’ll check it out!
This looks like an interesting book. One I will have to look for should we ever adopt (which we hope to!).