Customer Reviews

The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I just ordered this book after having looked at it elsewhere. It's going to answer a lot of questions my daughter has about the specifics of my going to China to get her, our travel group that we remain close to, etc. And I'm so happy it portrays diverse families - I am a single parent and we are acquainted with many diverse families in our local adoption group, and this will help 'normalize' that for our children. Is the (gentle and understated) portrayal of a lesbian couple disrespectful to the Chinese government officials? Perhaps a more important question is whether or not this same government's child limitation policies are respectful of these children and their families? They are unfortunately given little choice but to sacrifice some of their children to an unknown fate that they can only hope will someday provide their children with the love and fulfillment that an adoptive family - single-parent, married couple, or homosexual couple - will provide.

First of all, the complaints about the "lying" and homosexuality in this book that appear in some of the other Amazon reviews are very disproportionate to the actual content of the book. There is one woman who is accompanied to China with another woman, who holds her hand in the airport. That is it. They cry together and they are by each others' side to experience the "gotcha" day when they receive the woman's adoptive daughter. The lesbian couple need not have "lied" to get approved for adoption, as the Adoption.com website now lists the phrase, "gays/lesbians discouraged," NOT forbidden. To me, providing positive role models of family-oriented couples, of both heterosexual and homosexual persuasion would be an important part of educating my child and preparing them for the real world. This book emphasizes the parents' experience, making it both good for children to hear about that point of view, and as a supportive text for the adoptive parents themselves. There are 3 heterosexual couples and 1 lesbian couple who adopt from China. The book does NOT dwell on the fact of the one couple's sexual orientation.

Before I bought this book, I read some of the other reviews,
what made me purchase it was, the mixed reviews. Some people were offended because it was pertaining to gay couples. I did not get that from the story. For those that thought this, how
are you going to teach your daughters that they are accepted and
its ok that they look different and you want people to accept them but its not ok to be gay. Double standard, in my book. My
husband and I would not encourage our daughter to be gay but we
will teach her that the world is full of differences and that is
ok.

My husband purchased this book for our family a few months prior to our returning to China to adopt our second daughter. We found it very helpful in explaining to our older daughter what was happening and what might be expected. The water color drawings are beautiful and the story is charming. Yes, there is a lesbian couple but it's really so not in your face. Those who complain about this book somehow putting adoptions in jeopardy would do well to educate themselves on the facts. China was not always closed to gay couples and it has only been in the last (approximately) four years that singles have been asked to sign the heterosexual statement. The author adopted her daughter before this process was in place, so it might behoove reviewers to actually do some research before throwing out allegations. And, since it is a work of fiction, the author did exercise artistic license in simplifying some of the explanations. I would hope that people who are looking for an adoption guide would actually be buying a non-fiction book rather than looking to a children's book, but obviously some of the other reviewers would disagree. I highly recomend this book to any open minded parent that was looking for help in telling their son/daughter their story.

This book tells the story of four North American couples/singles travelling to China to adopt four Chinese girls. This is a great way to explain to kids the process of adoption. It also captures the group experience that happens when adopting parents travel to another country, meet, and share the experience, often making friends.

The four adopting parent-groups include a single mom, a married couple that look of Asian descent and another married couple that look plus-size, and two women, one of whom appears African-American. The two women could be gay or best friends--it is not made clear and is subtle enough to go right over the head of any child. The book does not address China's adoption policies, nor does it make any judgements about Chinese culture, or why so many girls are available for adoption. I think it's better to be inclusive and not touch on international adoption politics. Personally I know more than one child with two mommies and in this modern day and age I see no problem with the book being inclusive. One of the couples is also Jewish.

The watercolors are absolutely beautiful, and paint China in colorful and rich detail. In a particularly nice touch one of the moms-to-be practices some Chinese phrases on the airplane on the way to China: "Wo shi ni de mama" which means "I am Mommy", and "Wo ai ni" which means "I love you." You get to learn more phrases when they are in China. Later on, when the parents send each other holiday cards, you get to see pictures of the adopted girls as bigger children, which is lovely, and you can see on the cards that their names are a given Western name followed by their born Chinese name as a middle name, which is a very common practice and is nice to see.

Overall an informative, gentle, and touching book. I recommend this highly to anyone adopting from China.

My 6-year-old from China LOVES this book and has asked to have it read to her at least 20 times since it arrived last week. It is very close to her own adoption story - she is from Guangdong Province, and we of course stayed at the White Swan Hotel. I love the diversity of families shown - it's a good representation of what my kids see in our own community of families with kids from China. The beginning of the story is wonderful, with the parents each waking up on their travel day as the babies are going to bed on the other side of the world. Both my 6- and 4-year-old giggle in delight at the descriptions and illustrations of the babies. My only complaint is that the ending is a little abrupt. The first time I read it, I thought I'd skipped a page at the end - I was expecting something about leaving China or the trip home. I also noticed one typo - Charlotte Appleford is Carrie Appleford on one page. But otherwise a wonderful, wonderful book!

I'm the happy mom of a beautiful girl from China and I heartily recommend this book.

The story is sweet, completely realistic and the illustrations are magnificent. I cried when I read it. My seven year old was completely indifferent. She only likes books about princesses at the moment.

To those who object to the fact that the story includes a lesbian couple, fine, don't buy the book. But I can only quote from John McCutcheon's wonderful book and song "Happy Adoption Day" in the CD "Family Garden"

Some families come different
And some come the same
But wether they're singles or pairs
You're always at home
You're never alone
As long as there's someone who cares.

Leaving the openly (holding hands in China-something discouraged in public even from heterosexual couples) lesbian couple aside for a moment, I found this book to have other innacurracies. On the last page the authors state that all foreign embassies which the adoptive parents travel to are in Guangzhou. That is not true. The U.S. consulate which processes the visas for the Chinese children is in Guangzhou, but parents from other countries, including Canada and Great Britain must travel to Beijing. So I don't know how a Canadian couple could have been in the same travel group as 3 families from the U.S. In addition the authors also state that parents receive their child's visa, green card and passport all at the same time from the consulate in Guangzhou. Again, this is wrong. U.S. parents only receive their child's visa in Guangzhou. The green card is mailed to their home address about 3 weeks after returning home. Obtaining a U.S. passport must be done here in the U.S. after first filing for a social security card for the child. The child is brought into the U.S. with a Chinese passport, received in the child's province along with the adoption documentation, along with the U.S. visa given by the consulate in Guangzhou. I realize this may seem trivial to some but if I had read this book before we returned from China with our daughter, I would have found this information to be very confusing. Knowing how so many parents within the China adoption community would be eager to have such a book in their child's collection, I think the authors did a great disservice by giving such innacurrate information and yes, portrayals, given the Chinese government's views.

As an adoptive parent that stayed at the White Swan Hotel during the adoption of our daughter I purchased this book expecting somewhat to encounter a little bit of the 'twee' sentiment that is sometimes attached to internation adoption. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoy ready of the different families that adopted on this particular journey.

I have absolutely no issue with the same sex couple in the story, as there was a time when China allowed gay couples to adopt. What it does point out to our family is that love can cross all barriers, race, gender, age, marital status and one very large ocean!

Families are built in many different ways and we want our children to understand and appreciate that.

Well written and sweet without being sickly.

Our friends are about to go to China to pick up their little girl and they are really excited about this book and how it depicts this experience for them and later, their little girl. They are really enjoying it!