Customer Reviews

Amy Angel Goes Home: A Heavenly Tale of Adoption

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this book when my daughter was about 8 and asking me a lot of "why" questions about adoption. She knew her cousin and several friends had been adopted. We read it together, snuggled in bed, and enjoyed the author's view on adoption, which in essence is that things have worked out exactly as they should have, according to God's plan. And that parental love, whether those parents are birth parents or adoptive parents, is heavenly. The photographs are lovely, too, and it's a great book to read with your child.

My almost 5 year old really likes this book, and I like it also because it discusses adoption from a spiritual perspective. However, I was left uncomfortable with how it only lightly touches on the important role of the birthmother (and doesn't mention birthfathers at all). The use of the words "birth lady" felt awkward to me, since I think birthmothers deserve more recognition than that. Besides that point, I would highly recommend it for adopted children.

This is the best adoption book I've seen for explaining adoption to children! It focuses on the adoption being part of God's plan. It starts in heaven where baby angels are learning baby skills to earn their stars and be born. The Great Guardian Angel shows each child the parents "God wants YOU to have". The babies instantly love the parents they are shown. Amy, a soon to be adopted child, sees her parents and sees the "Light of Love" - shining from their hearts. Charlie, who will live with his biological parents, sees the Light of Love in his parents plus the "Glow of Life" in his mommy. Amy is sad because she does not think her parents are ready for her, as her mommy does not have the Glow of Life in her tummy. The Great Guardian explains that her parents have been praying for her arrival for a long time and are more than ready. Amy is also shown her birthmother, who is described as having ..."love so dear to do God's will for Amy here. She (birthmother) is God's messenger who will deliver you to your parents."

When Charlie is born, he goes to his parents by train. The Great Guardian Angel tells Amy she will arrive by boat. "I don't care how I get there. I just want to go HOME", replies Amy. When Amy is ready to be born the sailboat is surrounded by angels, which the Great Guardian Angel explains as angels wanting to "feel the special joy of your parents' love too." Amy falls asleep in the sailboat and wakes up with her adoptive parents.

My wife and I are practicing Christians and have two beautiful adopted daughters of African-American and Hispanic descent. We found that the book was too far out there in its use of a religious setting and we didn't like that all of the children are caucasian. Many adoptive parents have children who are not caucasian. Also, we felt that the birthmother was really disrespected by being called birthlady. Any woman who voluntarily puts their child up for adoption out of love for the child deserves to be called birthmother.

When my wife and I were "soon to be" adoptive parents I read the reviews for this book, smiled and cried, then ordered it immediately. This is the most heart warming book I've read about adoption, described and illustrated in a somewhat spiritual way that children (and adults alike) can understand. I've recommended and bought the book as a present for other adoptive parents as well. And, through a twist of fate later discovered that my wife and I know the author! Our 18 month old adopted daughter will soon be understanding this wondrous story of how God planned for her to be our child, and the journey that she took to be with us.

In 2006 we adopted our beautiful daughter from birth and were told about this loving book. We could barely get through it the first few times we read it because it helped put into words the love we felt for our baby before she was even born. In 2010 we adopted our beautiful son and our family is truly God made. The glow in our heart is the only glow some women will ever have and these angel babies bring more love into our lives then they may ever know. I hope that kids who are adopted read it as older kids so that they will know that it was God's plan for us to be a forever family and that it is the greatest gift one woman could give to another. We LOVE THIS BOOK and I am giving it as a gift to a couple who is about to receive their heavenly baby in a few weeks.

I really do not like giving bad reviews on things. This book though, was so ridiculous, I did not read it to my son, I threw it directly in the trash. Perhaps I am too much into something more realistic as I bought 3 books and the other two were darling and I loved them as did he. This book, I felt, was annoying from the start. It was flaky and not aligned with my beliefs. My Mother tried to read it as well and thought I should not read it to him as it was like some Angel was in charge of things and not the Lord. So sorry for the bad review, but the other two books on adoption I bought were fantastic and I will rate them accordingly.

I am a Christian, yet I found this book to be disturbing and definitely written from a Mormon perspective. I do not believe that a baby is waiting around in heaven to find a woman who has a "glow" to be his/her mom and in order for them to be united as a family the baby has to earn jewels in a heavenly crown so that then the baby can ride some train to earth. I have bought many more appropriate and useful books on adoption that I can read to my daughter. Be warned!

Amy Angel Goes Home is such a reassuring story about a baby in the waiting-to-be-born heaven. It is merely one prespective of how we can explain to our children the fateful course that brings children and adoptive parents together, and it is very reassuring.

I read one review from a birth mother who didn't like the brief commentary on the birthlady, as she's termed in the book. But honestly, I think the book's purpose isn't to purposely downplay her role at all. The purpose of the book is to reassure the child that there was a divine plan, and does briefly mention that this birthlady did God's will. The intention is to be reassuring to the child and emphasize the love the his adoptive parents have for him or her. . .and it achieves this in a beautiful story. Not so well-suited for the child who is adopted past infancy, unfortunately. But I think the author does a wonderful job a telling the heavenly tale of adoption!