We Belong Together
November 1, 2008 by SMBush
by Todd Parr
Todd Parr lends his distinctive picture book style to adoption in his latest book. Every two or three pages, Parr writes “We belong together because …” and then fills in the blank in different heartfelt – and sometimes whimsical – ways. The pictures show families of all different kinds (including same-gender and different color), and in a rare Author’s Note at the beginning, Parr encourages parents to change the pronouns in the text to fit their family.
This book doesn’t discuss the facts of adoption or even use the word “adoption”, but instead deals with the feelings behind adoption and wanting to be a family. In this way, it deals with the essential truth of adoption better than any book that focuses on the facts of the matter. This also makes it a good book for reading to very young adopted children who may not yet know the details of their adoption, and speaking as an adoptive father I was unable to read this book to my son without getting all choked up.
Excerpt:
We belong together because, you needed a home and I had one to share.
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Product Details:
- Reading level: Ages 4-8
- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers; Library Binding edition (November 1, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0316016683
- ISBN-13: 978-0316016681
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- Weekly Geeks: Fun Facts about Todd Parr
- Happy New Year from Book Dads!
- Weekly Geeks: Gift Books for Dads
- The Grandpa Book
- The Family Book
Filed under Any Parent, Family Diversity
Tags: Children's Books
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I’m so glad that you joined the Comment Challenge because I didn’t know about your blog and I LOVE IT! I decided to comment on this particular book because I gave to my brother who is a single gay dad who adopted a baby girl (now toddler). I loved the way the book represented all different kinds of families, but even better how it didn’t label them. So the two men in one picture could be two daddies, or dad and uncle, and so on. I think it makes the book easier to adapt to any and all adoptive situations. When I’ve read it with my niece, when we come to a female picture we say how “here’s Aunt Pam coming to visit.”
MotherReader’s last blog post..Comment Challenge: Questions & Answers
That a wonderful story, glad you came by.
Not everything we do will be kidslit, but it will probably be the main thing.
I really like the first line you quoted. I don’t have adopted kids, but I do have stepkids. I wish I’d known about this book, or that it had been published when my husband’s kids came to live with us. It might have helped smooth the path a little.