Customer Reviews

I Wished for You: an Adoption Story (Mom's Choice Award Recipient, Book of the Year Award, Creative Child Magazine)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As an adoptive parent, I live in frightful anticipation of a question that's far more daunting than "Where do babies come from?" Some day my son is going to ask, "Why didn't my birth parents keep me?" But after reading Marianne Richmond's "I Wished for You: An Adoption Story," that question doesn't seem so scary. The author answers this (and more) in an eloquently simple fashion. Her heartwarming tale celebrates many wonderful aspects of adoption, but Richmond focuses her story on the love between mother and child. You needn't be a member of the adoption community to appreciate and enjoy Richmond's story, but adoptive families especially will cherish this beautifully written and illustrated book. I, for one, look forward to reading "I Wished for You" to my son, and I'm certain that it's a story he'll ask to hear again and again.

My precious son, adopted 14 years ago, is going to be 17 this year! He's in the midst of some teenage struggles and being adopted has become an issue for him. It seems that, more than ever, he needs to feel grounded, certain of his place and who he is - all the usual teen insecurities are playing out but are, perhaps, magnified because he's adopted. Anyway, a while back I decided to purchase books for him about adoption that expressed what we've told him all along - that he was longed for, waited for, prayed for. He is loved, chosen, special. And that we are blessed beyond belief. Books like this were few and far between 15 years ago. I wasn't certain how he'd feel about me giving him children's books about adoption at this stage in his life. The first book I gave him was "God Found Us You." He actually let me read it to him! (I cried. He gave me hugs.) He said he liked it. This one (I Wished for You) brought a big smile to his face, and prompted him to say "Tell me 'the story,' Mom" - the catch-phrase he would use when he was little, when he wanted to hear about "the day he came home." As it turned out, he had questions about things I'd never thought to talk about before.

My point in writing this review is simply to note that this book and books like it don't always have to be only for younger children. For us, they are serving as gentle, humorous catalysts for conversations that we might not otherwise have.

Charmingly written and beautifully illustrated picturebook by Marianne Richmond, "I Wished For You" is the lovely little story of a little bear named Barley and his mother who sit in a very nice stuffed chair and talk about how they came to be a family. The simple and engaging text follows the them of adoption and will prove to be an especially nice way for parents to explain adoption and answer the kids of questions that young children have. The ultimate message is that it's not where you were born, but how well you are loved that makes you a member of a family. Also very highly recommended for family and community library collections is Marianne Richmond's companion picturebook, "You Are My Wish Come True" (9781934082256, $15.95). Parents and librarians are encouraged to visit the Marianne Richmond Studies website at www.mariannerichmond.com for a complete list of all her wonderfully engaging, expertly written, and beautifully illustrated titles.

I've reviewed sooo many adoption books and this one was great for Domestic Adoptions! There are too many books for international adoptions and not enough for domestic adoptions. This book will bring back all those emotions and memories. It actually brought tears. I'm excited to share my daughters adoption and hope this book will help answer some of her questions when she is ready to hear it. The book addresses your feelings and the birthmoms feelings in a very positive tone. Enjoy!

I Wished For You and You Are My Wish Come True are the EXACT same book. I bought them both thinking they were two different books. Although they are beautifully written and illustrated, I am disappointed that they are sold under two titles.

I've been looking for a book to explain to my 5 year old son how he came to be in our family. I've found many books on foreign adoption and adopting older children, but we were blessed to be in the delivery room when he was born. This book was incredibly sweet, and the words in it are words I've been looking for. We love this book and it is helping us with being open and honest about adoption. If you are a parent through the miracle and love of adoption, this is the book to get!!!!

This is really a great book except that it has religious content. That in and of itself is not a problem but I wish that amazon or the publisher had signaled that this book talks about belief in God, as that is not a message that is appropriate for our family. If it is appropriate for your family, then this is definitely the book for you.

In this story a mother bear explains to her baby bear how he was adopted. The story focuses mostly on the mother's experience and emphasizes how much she longed for a baby and how happy she is to have him.

However, most children have questions about their birth parents and need to know they were loved by them. This book doesn't do a great job here.

"A mama will grow a baby in her belly, and for all kinds of reasons, she'll decide she cannot be the very best mama she wants to be. The mama who grew you loved you enough to make a different wish." We're okay so far until the wish is defined: "a wish for a family who would love her little one with a total and adoring love, the kind of love I have for you." As if the love the birthmother had was somehow less total and less adoring than the adoptive families' love. The child can only infer that "my birthmother loved me, but not enough."

I would rather have seen "She wanted you to grow up in a safe home with a mommy who was ready to be a mommy." Then the message is, "She loved you but she wasn't ready to be a mommy." This message would apply to most situations, whether the problem had to do with poverty or extreme youth or lack of a partner or whatever.

In this book the baby was adopted from a "far-away place" so international adoption is implied, which is fine, but if you adopted through foster care or a domestic adoption, it might not fit your situation.

I also didn't like the message that "God chose you for me." I think it brings up some disturbing theological ideas. If God chose this child for me, why didn't he cause it to be born to me? I am supposed to believe that the best way to get this baby to me was to cause him to be born to someone else, cause that person all kinds of suffering so they couldn't keep him, then cause the baby the pain of wondering all his life where he came from, just to make ME happy? I believe in God but I don't believe God works like this. Didn't the birthmother ask God for the resources to keep him? Why weren't HER prayers answered? I think we live in an imperfect world and God works within the hearts of people to inspire them to do good. I don't think God creates vast inequities between people and societies in order to satisfy the desires of the fortunate few. I don't think God made a mother in Russia or China poor so she would be forced to put her baby in an orphanage so I could adopt him.

Also God supposedly has looked around to pick "the perfect child for me." There is an unspoken pressure here for the child to be perfect. I'd rather think that God is helping me to be the best mother for this child that I can be, instead of God using the child to meet my needs.

I read this book to my child, but leave out a lot of it and add my own words. I am looking for a better book.

My daughter and I loved this story and the sweet illustrations. As single mom to a beautiful little girl, it was helpful to find a book that is not written from the perspective of a two-parent family.

I checked this book out at the local library before purchasing it because I am choosy about the adoption books I read to my child. It is quite long and overly sentimental. There were too many parts that I would need to skip or change in order to feel comfortable with the messages in the book, so I chose not to purchase it. This book might be a better fit for another family.