The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption

by Jean Davies Okimoto, Elaine M Aoki (With), Meilo So (Illustrator)

Overview

Many people from North America make the long journey to their children in China. But first the family has to complete all the adoption-agency paperwork, have interviews, fill out legal forms, and receive approvals. Then a tiny photograph of their child arrives. Finally, they travel to China to embrace their long-awaited child.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989429160
Publisher:	Endicott & Hugh Books
Publication date:	02/19/2015
Pages:	34
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.09(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

MEILO SO is the illustrator of such beautiful, award-winning books such as Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities, and Recipes and The White Swan Express: A Story about Adoption. She lives in the Shetland Islands, UK.

Editorial Reviews

Young readers will love this story of how four Chinese babies come to be welcomed into new families in North America. Especially powerful is the depiction of those who are traveling to China to get their children. A couple from Miami, a pair of women from Vashon Island near Seattle, a single mom in Minnesota, and couple with a Japanese surname in Toronto, Canada all set out for the city of Guangzhou, in China. Meanwhile, "Still asleep, Wu Li smacked her lips, Li Shen burped, Qian Ye yawned, and Chun Mei Ni snored." The parallel depictions of the soon-to-be parents and the soon-to-be adopted children across the ocean help to create the sense of family right from the beginning. The seven parents become a group in China and exchange stories and expectations as they make their way to the White Swan Hotel, their home away from home, while they arrange to meet and adopt their beautiful daughters. Dr. Aoki uses her own experiences with adoption as the basis for this account, co-authored by Okimoto (Dear Ichiro, not reviewed, etc.), who has written before about Asian-Americans and is herself the daughter of an adoptee. So’s (Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats, below, etc.) effervescent watercolors in a vibrant and colorful palette add much to the presentation of a story that will intrigue and interest both those who are adopted and those who are not. A must buy for all libraries and a lovely gift for new families of all stripes. (extensive afterword) (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews

"Effervescent watercolors . . . a must buy for all libraries and a lovely gift for new families of all stripes." Kirkus Reviews

"This heartwarming story [is] a complement to the study of China as well as a good book to explain adoption." Booklist, ALA

"A purposeful, successful picture book. . . emotionally involving enough for any group interested in understanding the different ways families grow." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher