The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale [Hardcover]

Grace Lin (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

A king and queen should be full of joy and contentment, but they both feel a strange pain that worsens every day. Then a peddler's magic spectacles reveal a red thread pulling at each of their hearts. The king and queen know they must follow the thread.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3—Lin offers a contemporary fairy tale, using a story within a story to weave in a Chinese belief that "an invisible, unbreakable red thread connects all who are destined to be together." It begins with an Asian girl, who looks no older than five, asking her Caucasian parents to read a favorite story "again," thus introducing the main story: a royal couple both suffer a mysterious pain in their chests that nothing can remedy or explain, until a peddler gives them magic spectacles that allow them to see a red thread bound tightly around their hearts. They follow its loose end for days, crossing a sea, the pain gradually easing, until they reach a small village in a foreign land and find a gurgling, smiling baby at the end. A wise old villager tells them, "This baby belongs to you." Bright illustrations and vivid language will likely appeal even to preschoolers, though some children will need to have the connection to adopting a baby from China made more explicit through additional discussion. Karen Acres's Little Miss Ladybug & Her Magical Red Thread (Ladybug, 2003) also deals with this theme. This lovely book has general appeal, but it's particularly suitable for patrons requesting adoption titles, and especially transracial adoption of children from China.—Deborah Vose, Highlands Elementary School, Braintree, MA
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Review

"This is a good tale to open adoption discussions."

Booklist

"The illustrations are painted in deeply rich colors and are imbued with details that lend a fairy-tale ambiance."

Starred, Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company; Reprint edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807569224
• ISBN-13: 978-0807569221
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 11 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Adoption

More About the Author

Hello! Thanks so much for your interest in me and my books!

I grew up in Upstate NY with my parents and 2 sisters, whom are featured in many of my books, including "Dim Sum For Everyone!" and my novels, "The Year of the Dog" and "The Year of the Rat." My mother and I were the star characters in my first book, "The Ugly Vegetables"--I cut both my sisters out of that story! They were quite upset with me and made me promise never to cut them out again. And since then, I haven't...yet.

While many of my books highlight my family, not all of them do. My Newbery Honor-winning novel "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon," is an Asian inspired fantasy that some people call a Chinese 'Wizard of Oz,' and my early reader "Ling & Ting" is inspired by the old 'Flicka, Dicka & Ricka' books I read when I was young.

I hope you enjoy my books. Please visit my website: www.gracelin.com for more info about them (behind the scene stories and pictures) as well as other amusing anecdotes!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A WARM, TOUCHING STORY, September 7, 2007

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

Basing her warm story on an ancient Chinese belief that "an invisible, unbreakable red thread connects all those who are destined to be together," Grace Lin has fashioned a tender tale that will hold special appeal for adopted children and adoptive parents.

At the center of her story are a king and queen who rule an incredible kingdom where there is never any famine or drought. They're beloved by their subjects, still they feel something is missing in their lives.

Soon both of them feel pain in their hearts, pain that worsens with each day. Finally, a peddler arrives with spectacles that allows them to see that a red thread is tugging at each of their hearts. They're unable to cut the thread to ease their pain, so their only choice is to follow it.

They never dreamed how far they would have to go or how difficult their journey would be. They wondered, "Was it a ferocious beast or a cruel magician? What would they do when they met whatever was on the other end?"

All will be touched by what the king and queen discover; many may have felt the same joy.

- Gail Cooke

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Thread, September 29, 2007

By 

David Waln (Summerville, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

I'm a children's therapist and bought a number of books on foster care and adoption - this one was the biggest hit. I find that kids relate more to metaphorical stories rather than the didactic ones.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, August 24, 2008

By 

Henrik Dahl "Ostenburg" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

I am a mother of a 4 year old boy adopted through the foster care system at two years. We have read many books about adoption together. Very few books relate to his story and he's never "loved" any of them. This story is beautifully writen and poetic. The visual of the red thread was so powerful that we talk about "our threads" now. While this book is about a girl adopted from China, it is a fairytale with Kings and Queens and captures attention from the begining of the story. It also touches the one thing that most books miss; the parents and child are meant to be together regardless of how. The look on my son's face when I explained how I felt before and after we found each other, was priceless. By the way, this is the first book I've ever felt the need to review.