Recently I wrote about a soon-to-be-released children’s book on adoption entitled Searching for…The You We Adore and shared the fascinating biography of its illustrator, Richard Cowdrey. You can read that article here.
With the book’s release coinciding with National Adoption Month in November, I wanted to follow up on my promise in that article to provide more information about the book, as well as about the role adoption has played in the life of my own family this past year.
Praise for The You We Adore
The You We Adore opens with these lines: “Our love searched the whole world for the you we adore. We longed to open our hearts to the one we were waiting for…”
Even if you’ve never been directly involved with an adoption, your heart can still resonate with these words so beautifully written by author Valerie Westfall.
The reason for this is that while The You We Adore is a book about adoption, it is also simply a delightful story celebrating love and family. In fact, the word “adoption” is never used in the book.
While many books about adoption seek to help children understand the process of how and why they were adopted, The You We Adore takes a different, refreshing, and warm perspective.
This unique viewpoint is illustrated and captured perfectly by NY Times Bestselling Artist Richard Cowdrey. He symbolically uses a long, red ribbon that circles the globe in search of the child to complete their family and fulfill the longings in the hearts of both the adopted child as well as the hopeful parents.
Along the way, the ribbon brings its readers on an exciting adventure around the world, climbing with pandas and swimming with dolphins. In doing so, The You We Adorebridges global and cultural boundaries in its simple yet profoundly beautiful story of unconditional love.
Adoption’s Role in My Own Life
Personally, this theme touches my heart on multiple levels. Growing up, I dreamed of having 12 children and adopting an international family.
Then in my twenties, I was told I would not be able to have children so I began to ‘adopt’ by starting a school and had children from all around the world. Later, God did allow me to have children of my own, so while I never formally adopted, each of the thousands of children in all of my schools wove their way into my heart.
But this past year, my oldest son and his family added a baby girl to our family: Hope Isabella:
While they had originally hoped for a child from Ethiopia, Hope miraculously came through a domestic bi-racial adoption agency.
She couldn’t be any more perfect! We instantly loved her and felt she had always been destined for our family. A year later, I cannot imagine our family without her joyful presence in it! She has stolen our hearts, and we know God chose her just for our family.
Getting Involved with Adoption
For this reason I not only endorse The You We Adore, but I’ve read it multiple times to my grandchildren and the children at school, have it in the library at Grace Academy, and recommend to other schools that they add it to their own library. I will be donating copies to our church library as well.
Further, I believe it is destined to become a classic, for it weaves together such beautiful language, images, and themes that will find a welcome audience with whomever reads it, whether a family involved with adoption or a child reading on their own.
Every year more than 150,000 adoptions take place, yet still there are tens of thousands of children waiting to be adopted. Focus on the Family is dedicated to the promotion of adoption, and I encourage you to check out their resources available on their adoption home page.
Next month, The You We Adore will be available for purchase. To learn more, visitwww.TheYouWeAdore.com.
I’m also hoping to put together a video of me reading the book for you to enjoy soon. And yes, I’ll make sure everyone can see the pages!
