Friday, November 30, 2012

Sweet Give-Away!

In celebration of the last day of National Adoption Month, I am thrilled to share this review with you and to offer a sweet little give-away to go with it.


Sweet Moon Baby by Karen Henry Clark is a charming and imaginative tale of adoption. It weaves the fantastical story of a sweet little baby girl's journey to her waiting parents. And it does so in a lovely, captivating way that my girly-girls both instantly connected to when they read it - and read it they do! Even when LadyBug is not available to read the words to her, Li'l Empress pores over the pages and tries to re-tell the story on her own. She does a pretty good job of it, as I listen in on her narrative. While I'm certain that there are more "realistic" stories out there about the journey that both children and parents travel to be united through adoption, I'm equally certain that few are as tender and creative as this one. When I flip through the pages, reading of the rivers and roads the parents traverse to their Sweet Moon Baby, I can clearly identify with the imagery that those words evoke. There is great symbolism as I read of twisting waters and soaring hills. I would imagine, as Li'l Empress grows in the awareness of her own journey to our home, she will also come to see the metaphor this tale carries. As a lover of children's literature, the weaving of that metaphor alone would make me love this book. Books that make me and my children dig and connect beyond the surface of the words on the page are very important to me.

The beauty of the words and the depths of meaning that they carry are only one reason I love this book. As a bit of back-story, it's probably helpful to know that while I love meaningful children's lit, I don't often buy a book unless the art work in the book is just that: ART.  In fact, I have a whole collection of children's books that I have purchased over the years simply because the art within the pages moved me so much. I was first introduced to this book at an adoptive parents seminar last spring. At the intermission, I wandered up and down the product tables and kept coming back to this book. Each time I opened it up, I was delighted by the pictures and the expressions on the faces of each of the characters. I bought it immediately. Truthfully, I bought it before I even read it all the way through.

This book's amazing art work almost makes me want to buy a paperback copy just to be able to take the book apart and frame its pages. Really.

Except that I don't know if I could possibly buy a book just to dismantle it. As I used to tell the boys when they were little and in "destructo" stage: "Books are our friends. You need to treat them with respect. Be gentle with their pages and covers."  I know. I know. That's a little weird. Even for me.

Each page is sprinkled with lovely images that remind me of the children's books that my Grandma had stashed on the veranda for my cousins and I. They have an air of innocence and a sweetness to them that fits perfectly with the gentle rhythm of the story. The baby girl's face, in each of the different parts of her slumbering adventure radiates such peace. The settings are serene but still carry a touch of urgency. The parents are so earnest in their quest. It captures it all. And it does so with great beauty. Patrice Barton is a gifted artist, to have captured it all in the simple and stunning illustrations of this book.

I do really love this story. When the author contacted me and offered to send me a copy for my own library, I was more than happy to tell her that I already owned it. That we already loved it. When I suggested to her that instead I use her offered copy as a give-away in celebration of National Adoption Month, she graciously agreed and I'm so excited to share the beauty of this tale with one of you.

Here's how you can win
your very own signed copy of
Sweet Moon Baby by Karen Henry Clark:
  1. A first entry can be earned by leaving a comment here on the blog about your favorite children's adoption book. If you don't yet have a favorite adoption book, please share a favorite childhood book with us instead.
  2. Earn a second entry by sharing this post on your own blog. Please enter a separate comment back here and include the link to your blog post when you do so.
  3. Earn a third entry by sharing this post on your F@cebook account. Please enter a separate comment back here and include the link in that comment. (Click on the time stamp of your shared link and copy the url to paste here in your comment.)  Please consider "liking" and then "tagging" Sweet Moon Baby's FB page when you do share, so that the author can see how folks are responding to her work. It's certainly not a requirement for this third entry but who doesn't love that kind of encouragement?
  4. Comments will only be accepted till midnight on Wednesday, December 7th. FYI: Comments are set to blog-owner moderation (to protect from spammers), so yours might not appear immediately upon entering.
I encourage you, even if you own this story already, to enter and try to win. This book makes a lovely gift for any of the children in your life who have been touched by adoption. A winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on Friday, December 7th.

You can read a personal, stirring
on Shawn Smucker's blog for more
about Karen's own Sweet Moon Baby.


********************************************************
As November's National Adoption Awareness campaign draws to a close, I would ask you to prayerfully consider how you can continue the efforts of increasing awareness by supporting adoptive families in your circle of friends and family. It might not be financially, but there are many other ways you can participate and honor the building of a family through adoption. I hope my posts throughout the month gave you a glimpse inside the life of this adoptive family. And that if you have particular questions about being an adoptive family, the process of adoption, or other conversations surrounding adoption, you know by now that I'd love to hear from you. If I don't know the answer to your questions, you can bet that I'll be digging up a resource for us both to investigate!

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Our favorites are Searching for the You We Adore and Sweet Moon Baby. :) Great books - and both authors are the sweetest ladies too. :)

Unknown said...

Shared on FB here -
http://www.facebook.com/MyOverthinking/posts/519296958089855

You should ask folks to TAG Sweet Moon Baby on FB when they share so that Karen and her peeps see it too! :)

Aus said...

Have to chime in on this one - I get teary just writing the title: "I'll love you forever" by Robert Munsch - perfect for any parent and child - but even more perfect for adopted kids! Our second family fav is "Tell me again about the day I was born" - can't recall the author on that one - but a great adoption story!

hugs - aus and co.

Unknown said...

This is the second time I've tried to post this comment, it keeps wanting me to create a blogger account??
Anyway, I've been eyeing this book for awhile and would love to add it to our collection! Currently our favorite adoption book is A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza. It's a great story of building a family through love and acceptance, regardless if you are a bird, a pig, or an alligator! It introduces adoption concepts through a simple story that's great for young kids. Plus, the characters bond over apple pie-- one of my family's favorites!
I also wrote a blog post and will share this on my FB page :)

Unknown said...

Here's a link to my blog post on this, and other, adoption-related books :-) http://unperfectmoms.com/think-books-my-favorite-adoption-related-reads/

Unknown said...

I hope I did this all right! I posted a link on my blog's Facebook page and tagged Sweet Moon Baby's FB page... http://www.facebook.com/UnPerfectMoms

I hope that qualifies me, thanks! :-)

Anonymous said...

My favorite adoption book is "The White Swan Express". It is my favorite because it is the only adoption book in our collection that my daughter continues to regularly request we read, and we have had it for about 7 years now. My daughter really seems to identify with this book. I think because the travel group in the story is so diverse it easily lends itself to adding your own family into the travel group (which is often how we read it.)

Cindi Campbell said...

Our favorite is A Mother for Choco too! I lOVE hearing my dh read it to the girls for he does the different animal voice and it is so precious to see him interact with the storyline. Can't wait to see your sweet girl's face!

Mom2sixCT said...

Posted on my blog!

http://madeinchinawithlove.blogspot.com/2012/12/sweet-baby-moon.html

Mom2sixCT said...

https://www.facebook.com/rachel.broughtonestes

Shared on my fb--I'm not sure if you can see it since it's private. ;)

Sennie said...

We've enjoyed Shaoy & Dot books by the Chapmans. I've heard of this one, and would love to read it my youngest, who was adopted from China.
ourmothershipadventures@gmail.com

Sennie said...

Facebooked about it here:
https://www.facebook.com/OurMothershipAdventures

Thanks for doing the giveaway!

*Ashley Lou* said...

Exciting! We don't yet have a favorite adoption book but my favorite childhoodd books were the Madeline books :-)

Kjernald Family Adventures said...

I know it is old, but it is good...one of my favorites is ''A Mother for Choco''. I have read and reread it to my kids and it is a favorite around here. I also love ''You are Special'' by Max Lucado. The art does look amazing on ''Sweet Moon Baby''. I have a son from Ch*na, does anyone know of an adoption book from Ch*na for sons?

Blessings,
Laurie

Kjernald Family Adventures said...

I also left a link on my blog to your giveaway. You can get to my blog at kjernald.blogspot.com

Blessings,
Laurie

Deidra said...

My favorite is "Motherbridge of Love." :) I haven't read this one, but would love to! :)

Unknown said...

This is my first time hearing about this book. I am excited to read it and share it with other adoptive families.

Our kids are preteens and teens now but as little kids they loved the book The Kissing Hand.

Nicole Renée said...

Sorry, I already didn't follow the rules! Let's try again - our favorite is The Red Thread by Grace Lin! Pick me, pick me!

Kjernald Family Adventures said...

Okay, I will try this one more time. You may not be able to see it because of my privacy settings, but here goes.

http://www.facebook.com/laurie.kjernald/posts/266722023450992

Let me know if that works, it works on my computer, but that maybe because of history.

Blessings,
Laurie

AlbinoPrincess said...

I found you through your post to the Creating A Family Group on FB. =)

A couple of my favorite adoption books are God Found Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren and A Blessing From Above by Patti Henderson.

Kelly said...

I don't have a favorite adoption book (we just started the process) but one of my favorite children's books is Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman.

Gina Church said...

I didn't check to see if anyone had mentioned this one already, but one of my favorites in "The Red Thread" by Grace Lin

Cydil said...

A Mother for Choco! :-)

Unknown said...

My favorite adoption book is Motherbridge of Love by Xinran.

Andrew and Katie said...

I love Tell Me Again about the Night I was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Katie

grtlyblesd said...

Motherbridge of Love
or
I Wished For You.

Not that I can read either aloud without crying, lol.

Johanna said...

Ok.....it doesn't work to post on my iPhone!???? Trying on my iPad! Lol

Favorite book is we belong together by Todd Parr. I love it for its sweet and simple message!
Pick me!!!!:)))

kristin said...

We have lots of favorites, but our first favorite adoption book was 'I Love You Like Crazy Cakes.' This book looks really good and I've been wanting to get it. Thank you!