I was so excited when I was asked to review this book. Our children love new books especially when they are about adoption. When it arrived at our home I caught a few of them checking it out before our reading time!
Illustrated by Jessica Lanan
The Story I’ll Tell is beautifully and poetically written. With each turn of the page comes a new whimsical tale of how the mother and son found each other. It gently draws the reader in and leads them to fantasize about other ways their family could have met!
Our children love to hear their personal adoption story. But after reading this book they creatively thought of adventurous ways that we could have been brought together.
The Story I’ll Tell is a love story and it is written from the heart of an adoptive momma journeying to her child. As we all know, adopting mommas are focused and driven to find their children! The Mother in the book is determined to find, to rescue, to look for, to get to her child wherever he may be!
Although it may be considered a children’s book it sparked a wonderful conversation among all of us, especially our older children…
– Ava loved that the mother told stories to her child.
– Joey’s favorite story was when the Mom rescued the little boy from the dragon queen.
– Abby and Luke liked when she found her son in the cabbage patch.
– Madeline loved it when the angel brought the little boy to their doorstep.
– Anna said that mommies miss their babies and want to have them in their arms as soon as possible.
– Ellie commented that moms want to protect their babies and be with them.
– Melissa said the little boy cried and the Mommy came to him – she knew it was her son calling for her.
– And sarah noticed that the family at home waited for him to join them. She loved the joyful reunion!
It was interesting to hear what part of the story they liked best and what part they could identify with. As their Mom, I loved to hear what they had to say about the book. It gives me insight into how they are processing and adjusting with their own adoption.
As we continued to talk about adoption in general I mentioned that it is hard for a child to leave all that is familiar to them. We listed all that an internationally adopted child would leave behind – their language, their food, their country, a special nanny and so much more. The children quickly came back with many comments on what the child will gain once they are adopted and have a forever family. It was such a good conversation.
The Story I’ll Tell is beautifully illustrated by Jessica Lanan. The pages are colorful and guide the reader’s imagination.
This is a heartwarming whimsical story. It eloquently weaves together bits of truth and successfully combines it with fantasy. Both our younger and older children thoroughly enjoyed it!
What a wonderful review. I love this book, too!