With so much to write about ... so much news, so little time ... I'm popping over here from the Adoption News Blog to post about some Korean adoption-flavored stories.

Starting with this one on an unexpected reunion with birth family.

Nineteen-year-old Korean-born adoptee Robin Gellinger and her mom took a trip to South Korea to see her birthplace... more

Link: Beacon Street Girls

This is a “kind of” book review because I know nothing about this series, but someone sent it to me so I thought I’d pass it on. One of the main characters of this series is Avery (a Korean adoptee). I played around on their site a little and it looks pretty neat - the kind of thing that I would have liked before I started seventh grade.

I was always pleased when I found an Asian character in my books, but to find... more

One of my son’s favorite books is “My Many Colored Days” by Dr. Seuss. It isn’t about adoption or racism. It’s just about being yourself and what that means. It’s simple and, like many stories, sometimes simple is just better. I don’t remember reading this book when I was little, but I’m glad that my son found it.

I identify with this book on a couple of different reasons. It is nice to have a book (especially a children’s book) that recognizes good days and bad days. I have know each one of the days that Dr. Seuss describes – happy, sad, mad, busy…

The... more

The authors of “My Freedom Trip – A Child’s Escape from North Korea” have my admiration. It is a sad and beautiful story that is told with just the right voice. Though it is made for children, it’s really a story for all ages.

The story is about a little girl who knows that Korea has been divided in half. It is about her journey to escape from North Korea to be with her father who has already crossed the border and the mother that she left behind. You can feel the emotion in the words and see them in the wonderful pictures by Debra Reid Jenkins. It is all the more poignant because... more

Families Are Different by Nina Pellegrini was a very simplistic story that is told from the point of view of a little girl who was adopted from Korea. Though I admit I tend to be attracted to more complex books, sometimes simple is better.

The story is about how she feels about being different than her parents and how there are all types of families in the world. Sometimes, I think that pointing out the way we are the same is very helpful in helping children deal with being different.

One of the things that I remember is feeling lonely. I didn’t really experience that feeling... more

I went to the library the other day and borrowed a whole bunch of children’s books. I was amazed by the selection that they had for me to choose from. I chose to read a book called “An American Face” by Jan M. Czech.

The story is about a little boy who is counting down the days until he is an American citizen because he thinks he’ll get an “American” face. He wants to look just like his parents and the other kids on the playground. While he’s counting down, he wonders what his face will look like and if it will be painful. When he realizes that he will not have an “American” face,... more

I want my son to know that I am the kind of parent who will listen to anything he needs to tell me. I want him to know that he can come to me with any issue and we’ll work through it. However, I know that he won’t always come to me – that’s about the only given in parenting.

Reading stories together is a great way to introduce some of the tougher topics. You might find that even the younger children have been thinking about some of the big ones and didn’t know how to tell you. When I was small, there were very few books out there for Korean adoptees, but now libraries and on-line... more