We Chose You: A Book About Adoption, Family, and Forever Love

by Tony Dungy, Lauren Dungy, Guy Wolek (Artist)

Overview

Every Family is Created by God

God forms families in many different ways and sizes, but all are equally important and special.

When adopted son Calvin needs to tell about his family for a class assignment, he discovers his parents were praying for him long before they chose him. Not only that, but God chose them for Calvin. It wasn't by chance and it wasn't an accident. It was according to His plan.

We Chose You was written to communicate to all children, whether birthed or adopted, that they are chosen. That they are secure. That they are loved. This is a message every child needs to hear.

Let this book give you the words to tell your child about your family's unique story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780736973250
Publisher:	Harvest House Publishers
Publication date:	04/02/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Tony Dungy is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Quiet Strength and Uncommon. He enjoyed a successful career in the National Football League, winning Super Bowls as a player and as a coach. Tony is involved in numerous charities, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and All Pro Dad. He and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of ten children. They are active in the foster parenting community, as both parents and advocates.

Lauren Dungy is the bestselling author of You Can Be a Friend and Uncommon Marriage, a frequently sought-after speaker, and an early childhood educational specialist. She is vice president of the Dungy Family Foundation, an organization committed to strengthening families and helping individuals acquire needed life skills. In addition to being a foster parent with Tony, she works with several agencies in the Tampa Bay area to help raise awareness for the foster care system.

Over the course of his 35-year career, Guy Wolek has done everything from working as a courtroom sketch artist, to illustrating children’s books, to developing characters for animation. His illustration credits include Carson Chooses Forgiveness; Dinner with Olivia™; and the Maximilian P. Mouse, Time Traveler series. A father and grandfather, Guy lives in Southern California with his wife of over 30 years.    
 

Editorial Reviews

04/15/2019

When an African-American boy named Calvin receives a class assignment to talk about his family, he anxiously asks his parents, “Can you tell me about our family again? About how you chose me?” Together, they look at the couple’s wedding photos, as the parents explain that, as happy as they were together, they prayed for a child, until “we chose you.” But, Calvin wonders, if he didn’t grow in his mother’s tummy, is he really her son? No two families are the same, his mother assures him, but all are “created by God.” Illustrating in bright, forthright art, Wolek shows illustrated snapshots of families (a child with many siblings, an only child, a girl raised by her grandmother). Dungy misses an opportunity to feature families with same-sex parents, but the validating sentiment about diverse family structures resonates. Ages 6–9. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

2019-03-03

Former star football player and coach Tony Dungy and his wife, Lauren, offer a story about adoption for Christian families.

Young, bespectacled Calvin has a school assignment to "tell the class about my family," so Mom and Dad sit him down, break out the family photo album, and share once again the story of how it was God's plan that he was chosen to be a member of their family. Calvin is pleased with the story until he wonders, since Mom and Dad chose him, what would happen if they changed their mind: "Could you un-choose me someday?" To alleviate his fears, Mom and Dad reassure Calvin that they chose him because they love him and that will never change. This book is smoothly written and pleasantly illustrated for its specific audience, depicting Calvin and his parents as black. The story is inclusive—up to a point. When Mom and Dad discuss the fact that families are made up of all sorts of people and that "there are lots of ways to make a family," they list families with many children or just one, a child who lives with a grandmother, and a blended family. While care is taken to illustrate racially distinct characters and at least one interracial family, there is no mention of families with same-sex parents, nor is there any explicit religious diversity presented.

A decent if limited offering. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews