I’m Adopted! (2011) by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly.

Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly have created a book that answers a lot of basic questions children have about adoption. But the real beauty of I’m Adopted! are the many, many photos of adoptive families of all kinds. Same race, mixed race, transracial, single parents, lesbian moms, gay dads. Kids and families smiling, jumping, playing, lots of hugs and kisses. But also a birth mom looking out the window, kids quiet and pensive looking away from the camera with big questions on their minds. 

I’m Adopted! offers a wide definition of what it means to be adopted for the most typical situations. However there is no mention of open adoptions, older child adoptions or foster adoptions. And while I appreciate the wide diversity of families and kids represented, I do quibble with one line used: “Parents who want to adopt get help to find just the right child…to care for and to love.” I feel like the “just the right child”/ chosen child idea is problematic. Instead I feel like adoption is magical in exactly the same way birth is—it’s a huge mystery why parents and children come together to become a family no matter how it happens.