“Every year thousands of infants and toddlers are adopted to North America, Western Europe, Australia, and Israel from orphanages in the countries of Eastern Europe. These children most often bring with them nothing but memories—and even those are inaccessible to the youngest of them—of their former lives, caretakers, customs and languages.”
“They arrive in a whole new world after a long journey with strangers who are their new parents. The children are anxious, perhaps frightened, of so much that is new and unfamiliar. The parents are excited and overjoyed to have their new sons and daughters home at last after a daunting journey through adoption. The dissonance between these arrival viewpoints can be challenging for both children and their parents.”
The author and the illustrator try to offer a child’s view of life before adoption and the transition to a forever family in a way that allows parents to talk openly and comfortably with their pre-school and early elementary aged children about the gains and losses that have been a part of this unique life change.