[.ca] We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families (ISBN 0316016683)

SHARING IS THE OPERATIVE WORD:
Especially meaningful as we observe National Adoption Month, Todd Brown's bright, colorful book relates in language easy enough for the smallest child to understand what it means to become a family. He extends this warm text from children to include pets in need of a home, offering reasons why "we belong together." While the reasons are elementary, they are also extremely powerful. Such as, "We belong together because you needed someone to help you grow healthy and strong, and I had help to give." Or, "We belong together because you needed someone to read to you and we had stories to share." Share is often the operative word as once someone has become a part of a family then there are laughs to share, places to visit together, and most importantly love to share. Adopted children will feel very special after hearing and seeing Todd Brown's views on making a family. - Gail Cooke

Great book!:
I work in the field of adoption and I'm always looking for books to give to children as they move to their 'forever families'. I loved the brightly coloured pictures in this book and the straight forward messages. It is a book that you can buy for a pre-schooler that hasn't always lived in their adoptive family because it doesn't talk about the day they came home from the hospital or infancy in particular. I've been waiting for this book to come and it was worth the wait. The other book by the same author (the family book I think) is also a neat little addition to your library.

Courtesy of Kids @ Teens Read Too:
Although WE BELONG TOGETHER is geared towards adoptive parents and their children, any family can benefit from reading the book, especially if done so together. Although I've read some negative reviews about the book, statements made that it gives the wrong message to adopted children, I don't think that's the case at all. Both of my children have, at one time or another, asked why they were our kids and not someone elses. How is it that we became their parents, and not the parents of some other children? For younger children, who don't know all of the details of how becoming a parent works, this is a valid question. My answer has always been the same as the one Todd Parr provides within the pages of the bright, bold, beautifully illustrated WE BELONG TOGETHER: because you needed love, and I had a lot to give. This book, although it doesn't mention birth parents, makes the act of adoption a two-way street: both child and parent need something (love, learning, shelter, fun & laughter), and both have things to give in return (a hug & a kiss, knowledge, safety). I think that this is a great book for adopted families, especially when read together. But all families will enjoy it, and the positive message of love and acceptance that it gives. Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"