Simple first person narrative, cheerful illustrations and charming child-like details make this task-by-task countdown to the arrival of a long awaited sibling sweet reading for any child.

More tales of family welcoming and adoption on JOMB:

• The Red Thread
• Thicker than Water on SILS
• Before You Were Here, Mi Amor
• Someday

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Creamy, rounded illustrations and smooth southern narration tell the heartbreaking yet hopeful, true tale of a young girl who survived isolation, slavery and exile with the help of her wits, her mother’s memory and the kindness of a stranger.

Other books mentioned

• McFig & McFly: A Tale of Jealousy, Revenge, and Death {with a Happy Ending}
• Children’s Poet, Nikki Giovanni

You can learn more about the forced Cherokee relocation and the Trail of Tears here.

You can learn more about the process of illustrating this book here.

Today, in honour of Adoption Awareness Month, Swimming In Literary Soup looks at a “clump” of four books that invite us to stop and think about our own ideas of family and to share those thoughts with the little people who have made our families possible.

So pop over for a peek — and be sure to tell us about children’s books that help you celebrate the true definition of Family.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Dramatic, stylized folk art, carefully worded text and a cleverly crafted story-within-a-story format combine to create an engaging story time snapshot that vividly illustrates the unwavering strength of parental devotion — and the quiet power of children’s books.

You can find more information about adoption at Moonrattles, an online community for tweens touched by adoption and fostering.