Suzanne Bloom’s A Family for Jamie: An Adoption Story is a bit unique in that it talks not only about the child’s story, but about the waiting parents-to-be–their emotions, their preparations, their long waiting and dreaming.
Softly colored illustrations—also done by Bloom—convey the warm yet wishful mood very well. The illustrations are also fun to go back to—many details can be found on a second or third look. For example, the expression on a rag doll’s face is lonely as she waits for a child to play with. Other scenes show children playing together with a few comical details, such as one toddler’s huge flip-flops and a child who insists on wearing a raincoat when others are in shorts.
The story begins by explaining that Jamie’s family likes to make things. Even before they became Jamie’s parents, they also liked to make things. They made birdhouses and cookies and a garden, imagining each of the activities with a child to share the fun.
But, the book explains simply, “Molly and Dan could make almost anything, but they could not make a baby. They were very sad.”
Molly and Dan decide that adoption is “just the right way” for their family to grow. They go to the adoption agency. The social worker’s role is sensitively explained in a way that values children and contradicts the idea that agencies or countries “just want to get them placed”. Ms. Wilton tells Dan and Molly that it will probably take a long time until they adopt, because her job is to ensure that each child is placed with just the right family. Ms. Wilton asks Molly and Dan a few of the questions on a typical homestudy—what kind of area to they live in , what work do they do, what they do for fun, for example.
The lengthy wait is cleverly conveyed by a look at what Molly and Dan do in the winter, the spring, and the summer while they wait and plan. Molly wonders if their child will enjoy their hobbies. “I don’t know,” Dan says. “Everybody likes to do different things.” This subtly reminds adoptive parents that we should appreciate our children’s strengths and talents, no matter how different those may be from our own.
Please see these related blogs:
Adoption Books with Great Art: The Tummy Mummy
Adoption Books with Great Art Series: I Love You Like Crazy Cakes