Iris Fisher’s Katie-Bo: an Adoption Story tells the adoption process from the point of view of an older sibling. The book describes the entire adoption process, with only a sentence or two for each step. It would be excellent for helping older siblings understand the process of adoption. I would say it is aimed at kids about kindergarten age.
The narrator shares how his parents explain adoption to him and his brother. They make clear that the birthmother loves the baby, but because they can’t take good care of a baby right now she goes to an adoption agency, “a place where special people called social workers look for a happy family like ours to love and care for the baby forever”.
“We feel sad for the lady whose baby we’re going to adopt, but happy for us,” says the boy simply, honestly summing up the basic conflicting emotions about adoption in a nutshell.
The social worker visits, the referral and first picture of their sister, the family’s efforts to learn about Korea, the jealousy of one brother as the baby’s room is prepared, and the mother’s reassurance are all described matter-of-factly. The family chooses a name which combines an American name with the child’s Korean name. The arrival at the airport and emotions of welcoming the baby home are shown through the brother’s eyes. I also liked that, unlike many books, the book also showed the months after the adoption when the parents continue to go to sessions at the adoption agency, the social workers visits the house again, and the trip to court eight months after Katie-Bo’s arrival to finalize the adoption and celebrate with a family lunch.
The book has an overall upbeat tone to it, and the description of the adoption process was fairly accurate, even though the book was written in the late 1980s. The age at which Korean babies usually come home may be more like eight months now, since social workers are required to spend a period of time searching for a Korean adoptive family before releasing the child to the international adoption program. Also, more families travel now instead of meeting the babies at the airport. A good book for siblings who will be staying with a grandparent or aunt while their parents travel to receive their new child is Seeds of Love.
Please see this related blog:
Adoption Books for Children: Focus on Korea and Vietnam