Wonderful You: An Adoption Story

I adore this book. I love how it avoids saying that the baby was chosen. Clearly in Domestic Infant Adoption the parents get chosen by the birth parents, usually the birth mom like in this book. So we are the lucky ones, the birth parents are choosing the best life they can for their baby, the birth parents feel gratitude toward the birth mom and everyone loves the baby, who is at the center of the story. I find it so annoying when people act like the adoptive parents are saviors and the baby should be lucky. What a burden to put on the baby.This book is definitely a fairy tale version, but at 3 1/2 my daughter is just now understanding how it works and a fairy tale seems like a soft start to telling her how it works. Obviously there will be the hard part of explaining why her birth mom had to place her. I kind of wish this book had put that in so I could borrow the language. But I guess the story can’t be all things to all people. Side note: gorgeous illustrations!

This book is so perfect for our daughter's adoption story. I love the birthmother story line and how she searched for someone who would love her child as much as she does. It's really sweet. The art work is very cute too.

The beautiful story of a birth mother’s journey to find the perfect home for her daughter from the adoptive mother’s perspective. The narrative and illustrations are both lyrical and magical - one of the most beautiful adoption stories I’ve read.

This was exactly what I was looking for! It portrays the both mother beautifully and respectfully and discusses the adoption process from pregnancy through post-placement. I am grateful I came across this book as not a lot books discuss the birthmom/Family.

Fantastic, thank you

I love children's books that are illustrated with watercolors. There is something that is reminiscent of a classic children's story anytime the soft colors are splashed onto a page. It reminds me of being little and pouring over Beatrix Potter books or A Child's Garden of Verses. And for that reason, I was drawn into the book. Meilo So's soulful artwork, of which I have always admired, in this book wraps around you like a warm blanket. Her people are imperfectly shaped, like real people. The characters have blended looks, not locking them into any one race or ethnicity. You float through the pages, which is perfect because Lauren McLaughlin's lyrical story floats above the page and carries you through the story. You witness one family becoming whole with the adoption of a baby they have waited so long for her arrival; but ironically you do not feel sadness for the mother who gives the baby to the family. The way the story is told, the lady in blue, as the birth mother is referred to, is seen as an almost spirit whose purpose is to find the right family for her baby. The story pours over with love in a way, that I hope, will leave adoptive children not feeling abandoned by their birth parents, but instead loved completely at each stage of the process. I cannot recommend this book enough as a gift to adoptive parents or for parents to purchase for their adopted children. Wonderful You left me feeling warm inside and desperate for another read through of the book.

“In a faraway land lived a lady in blue with a babe in her tummy named Wonderful You.” So starts Lauren McLaughlin’s adoption story picture book called Wonderful You. The story goes on to describe how the woman in blue searched far and wide to find a home for her baby that was loving and kind. The parents are overjoyed to be chosen, telling the baby “We already love you. We promise we’re ready.”Meilo So’s illustrations have a fairy-tale quality, with characters depicted as floating in place, and riding on the moon and the wings of a bird. Scenes include rainbows and snowflakes, fields of flowers and clouds. They create a beautiful setting for a loving story parents can read to their adopted child.The author’s note at the beginning recognizes that “every adoption story is different, but many of them share one thing—a sense of destiny.” Parents should enjoy talking about the details of adopting their own child as they read along. I recommend Wonderful You for read-aloud time for ages 3 to 7.The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Charming in every way, Wonderful You: An Adoption Story captures both the birth mother's search for the "perfect family" and the anticipation and joy of the adoptive parents when their hopes for a child are fulfilled.The poetic voice is never forced nor does it stray from the heart of this thoughtfully imagined story. The verse carries the reader through the birth mother's determination to give her child a loving family, celebrates that special moment when a couple becomes parents, and imagines their future as a family with all those "firsts" -- crawling, walking, birthdays, school, snowmen before ending with a special promise to their "Wonderful You."Inspired by author Lauren McLaughlin's experience as an adoptive mother, the story is filled with honest warmth and subtle insight. An ideal gift.

This is a wonderful book, a must have for parents going through the adoption process and for adopted children. It is beautifully written and illustrated. Lauren's own experience shines through.