Based on the author's family's experience, this book describes a child's life before and after she was adopted from Russia. From scenes in the orphanage to the childÂ’s Russian birthmother, this is one of the first childrenÂ’s picture books to chronicle the special background of children adopted from Russia. Delicate watercolor illustrations perfectly compliment this poetic and heartfelt text. When I Met You is a celebration of the joy that adopting a child brings to a family.
Adrienne Ehlert Bashista is the co-editor of Easy to Love but Hard to Raise: Real Parents, Challenging Kids, True Stories, and is also the author of two picture books about Russian adoption: Mishka: An Adoption Tale, and When I Met You: A Story of Russian Adoption. She's had stories, essays, and articles published in a variety of journals, both print and on-line.
She currently writes for 3 blogs, 3 about parenting her 9-year-old son, who has a variety of neurological issues that make him 'easy to love but hard to raise,' and has a personal website as well: adriennebashista.net, which hopefully pulls it all together.
Her next title for kids, due out in August of 2012, is Haunted Kids of the Carolinas, a collection of spooky tales rooted in the historical, cultural, and freaky background of North and South Carolina. She wrote this book to be a tool for teacher and school librarians to bring fun and excitement into the curriculum, and she is excited to visit schools and libraries to make kids jump out of their seats!
Adrienne lives in central North Carolina with her husband, two sons, two dogs, 25 chickens, and too many honeybees to count.
