Recommended Books

Good afternoon! I was asked awhile ago if we can recommend any books to read. We haven't read too many just yet, but here are the ones we have and what we thought of them:

The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans : Excellent! This follows a woman's journey to adopt her daughter. Some of it is a bit graphic and sad, but it gives great insight into why so many babies are available for adoption and the process one goes through to adopt these children.

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose A. Lewis and Jane Dyer : This is a children's book that makes me cry every time I read it! It's from a mother to her adopted Chinese baby.

Just Add One Chinese Sisterby Patricia McMahon, Conor Clarke McCarthy, and Karen A. Jerome : Mason absolutely loves this book! He now wants to name his little sister "Claire" like the little girl in this book. It's a story of a family's trip to meet their daughter/sister. The story is told by the mother and big brother.

Things Little Kids Need to Know by Susan Uhlig and Jennifer Heyd Wharton: This is a book about all the things that a big brother is going to teach his new little sister. Seeing how Mason already tells us each day what he's going to tell his little sister (everything from how to not get hurt on her bike to how she needs a time-out for doing *whatever*), this book was right up our alley :)

Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang: this is a good, yet a very long and detailed book. I have been working on it for months! It is the story of 3 generations of women and what they went through in China during the 20th century. It's a great history lesson and really gives you an understanding of how hard life has been for women in China over the last century.

Here are others that have been recommended to us, but we haven't yet read (we have our work cut out for us, huh!?)

*Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz and Meilo So
*The Waiting Child: How the Faith and Love of One Orphan Saved the Life of Another by Cindy Champnella
*Daughter from Afar: A Family’s International Adoption Story by Sarah L. Woodard
*A Passage to the Heart: Writings from Families with Children from China by Amy Klatzkin
*Peach Girl: Poems for a Chinese Daughter by Joan I. Siegel and Joel Solonche
*West Meets East by Richard Tessler, Gail Gamache and Liming Liu
*Mei Mei (Little Sister): Portraits from a Chinese Orphanage by Richard Bowen introduction by Amy Tan afterword by Karin Evans

Adoption Stories for Children:
*A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza
*We See the Moon by Carrie Kitze
*Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale by Karen Katz
*The Day We Met You by Phoebe Koehler
*Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis
*Happy Adoption Day! By John McCutcheon
*The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption by Jean Davies Okimoto, Elaine M. Aoki and Meilo So (ages 4-8)
*Mommy Far, Mommy Near: An Adoption Story by Carol Antoinette Peacock (ages 4-8)
*Chinese Eyes by Marjorie Ann Waybill (ages 4-8)
*Our Baby from China by Nancy D’Antonio (ages 4-8)