{"id":29060,"date":"2016-08-24T22:31:32","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T02:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29060"},"modified":"2016-08-24T22:31:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T02:31:32","slug":"review-of-the-story-ill-tell-by-nancy-tupper-ling-and-jessica-lanan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29060","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Story I’ll Tell, by Nancy Tupper Ling and Jessica Lanan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"story_ill_tell_large\"<\/a>The Story I\u2019ll Tell<\/em><\/p>\n

by Nancy Tupper Ling
\nillustrations by Jessica Lanan<\/p>\n

Lee & Low Books, New York, 2015. 32 pages.<\/p>\n

You couldn\u2019t ask for a more beautiful book for families who have adopted children to provide a context for telling their own adoption story.<\/p>\n

This book, with lovely watercolor illustrations, is about a brown mother and white father who have adopted a baby from China.<\/p>\n

As the book begins, the mother, sitting cozy with her son next to her and a large book open, says:<\/p>\n

Someday when you ask where you came from,
\nI\u2019ll tell you a story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What follows are several fanciful scenarios, which all slip in how loved this child is.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not a horseman,\u201d I\u2019ll say. \u201cAn angel. That\u2019s who brought you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wrapped in her arms, you followed a trail of lanterns around the world until you reached our doorstep.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll always wonder how she picked our home. We don\u2019t have fancy gates or marble stairs, but she found the perfect place for you.<\/p>\n

How your eyes sparkled when I first saw you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sometimes the stories are quite simple, and sometimes very imaginative.<\/p>\n

Perhaps we were walking on the beach at night, and you floated in on a wave.<\/p>\n

No, not a wave! I\u2019d say there was a dragon queen who kept you by the sea to raise you as her own. I heard cooing sounds calling to me.<\/p>\n

I waited until the dragon queen fell asleep. Then I tiptoed inside and rescued you from her dark cave.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But she finally gets to the real story.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot true!\u201d you\u2019ll say when I tell these tales. And I\u2019ll smile, because it will be hard to fool the brightest child in the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She keeps the real story as lovely as the imaginative ones, involving a flight through the sky and a picture of the baby looking out a plane window. On the ground, they are greeted by loving relatives and friends. Though the baby cries \u201cfor things lost and new,\u201d the mother knows \u201cyou were the best gift we ever received.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is simply a lovely choice, especially for adoptive families.<\/p>\n

nancytupperling.com<\/a>
\njessicalanan.com<\/a>
\nleeandlow.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/story_ill_tell.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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