I need to be straight with you all right off the block, You and Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids around the World is not a book about adoption. Nor does it include any reference to children in Russia or any Eastern European country. So if you take those things into consideration it's probably not the best book for your child adopted from Russia.

But if you take other things into consideration: that it's a gorgeous book filled with amazing photographs... more

Hey ya'll - I'm writing an adoption ABC book. I'm not sure if I'll do anything with it when I'm done (publish it, find a publisher, etc.) but this fall I'm putting out my shingle to do some school workshops as a writer-in-residence and I need a week-long activity to do with the kids. Book-making is my forte (I mean the actual making of books, not placing bets..he he) and I was trying to think what would be a good topic for the books. My books are about adoption, but I certainly don't think every kid I talk to will want to write about adoption, nor should... more

I'm a blogger, you're a blogger, he's a blogger, she's a blogger, wouldn't you like to be a blogger too?

Man oh man everybody is blogging these days! I am fortunate enough to have a little job blogging, but since I started blogging for adoption.com I've thought of at least 3 other blogs I'd like to do...for fun, of course (IF I had the time). And you can bet that if I knew blogging existed when we were adopting Little J he would've had his own blog. I made him a website...but I've since lost it. Maybe it got deleted when we switched computers?

Anyway...

Here are some blogs by people who are in the process of adopting from Russia or who have already adopted... more

Earlier, while doing research on the region of Voronezh for part of my regional roundup series, I stumbled upon a website that I thought was very interesting. Last year, when it appeared that Russian adoptions my close or slow down (this, in response to the news coverage of "Masha," the Russian girl adopted by a pedophile as well as two deaths of children adopted from Russia at the hands of their adoptive parents), many groups and individuals tried to draw positive light on the Russian adoption experience through... more

I wanted to let you all know about a(nother) great Russian adoption blog over at blogspot: Adopting from Russia. The writer, Jen, is the mother of three little boys and she and her husband are in the process of adopting a little girl from Russia.

Jen has been kind enough to mention my need for region information and has often commented on my blog - I wanted to return the favor. I think hers is and will be a particularly useful blog for everyone either thinking about adoption or who are early in the process. It sounds... more

Well, folks, I was planning on writing a blog this evening on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and adopted children. Either that, or on Masha, that poor girl who was adopted from Russia by a pedophile and then imprisoned for several years before someone figured out what was going on and she was rescued. I also thought I'd do a little bit on post-institutionalization syndrome, or some other cheerful topic like that. Or maybe a little profile on Voronezh, the region where we adopted. I'm starting a section profiling regions in Russia, you see.

But I'm not in the mood for all that... more

Okey dokey. I'm really going to review these two books in this post. As I said in my last rant post, they are both suitable for the pre-school set and for pretty much any adopted child. I actually read My Family is Forever at a pre-school adoption storytime and it went over very well.

Happy Adoption Day! is the book version of some song lyrics by John McCutcheon. It's... more

Today I'm reviewing two adoption books, suitable for most adopted kids of pre-school age. I say most because although the messages in the two books are suitable for any adopted child, the illustrations are of Asian children with Caucasian parents. I think for most kids this isn't a problem. Most kids can make the leap from seeing an illustration of one race of child and applying the situation in the story to themselves. Some kids are a little more literal and they won't get it without the parent saying, "look Bobby, this kid has an adoption day, just like you..."

Before... more

I was flipping through Deborah Gray's excellent book, Attaching in Adoption the other day (I was actually wondering if Little J telling me I'm a stupid baby mommy in response to me telling him he couldn't have juice before dinner was a sign of an attachment problem...no, it isn't, and no I don't really think Little J has attachment issues I just have too many books lying around) and I found this fascinating passage about ADHD and malnutrition:

Children with Attention Deficit Disorder, or Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity... more

I have just stumbled upon a super Russian adoption blog. Click here to see it. Its title is actually "The Longest Journey is the Journey Inward" and it's all about one family's adoption experience.

Normally I am not a big fan of the "our adoption experience" blog. I don't love them largely because they focus a lot on that particular family's experience and not so much on other issues like travel and culture, etc. They are often quickly abandoned after the child comes home, too (Ummm..I am guilty of this, of course. I believe... more