I've read many adoption books and I've recommended quite a few as well. Though I know some people say they have a hard time finding time to read, I believe that reading about adoption is a crucial step in becoming prepared to be an adoptive parent.

If you have been intimidated by or had a hard time getting into other books and reading them to completion, I've got a great book for you. Adoption Parenting- Creating A Toolbox, Building Connections was edited by JeanMacleod and Sheena Macrae. A sample copy was sent to me a few weeks ago to review.

Because... more

Ever since I've been involved in the Ethiopian-adoptive community, I've been hearing families recommend the movie Endurance as a great way to get some insight into Ethiopian culture. Finally a couple weeks ago I was able to get my hands on a copy and watch it.

The movie was produced in 1999 and tells the story of Ethiopian distance runner Haile Gebrsellasie, who won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and is considered to be one of the greatest runners of all time. Haile began his running career by running 6 miles back and forth to... more

A few weeks ago I bought two Amharic/English books for our new girls. The first is Silly Mammo - a retelling of a traditional Ethiopian folk tale written by Yohannes Gebregeorgis and illustrated by Bogale Belachew. The second is The Lion's Tail, a story by Jane Kurtz, which has been translated into Amharic by Yohannes Gebregeorgis.

I was pleased to learn this week that EthiopiaReads.org has some new books for sale!

The Fig Tree by Genet... more

This is the second part of the interview with John Bul Dau. (Part One here.) Dau wrote God Grew Tired of Us, the story of his experience as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. John works with Direct Change, an organization created to help fund projects in Africa. Direct Change provides online fundraising tools to volunteer supporters and has recently expanded to raise money for groups working in Ethiopia including AHope and AAI's... more

The other day I blogged about the book God Grew Tired of Us, a story written by one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Soon after that I was pleased to get an e-mail from an adoptive dad I know through my adoption agency, and who happens to work with John Dau. He said that John would be glad to talk with me if I was interested. I jumped on the chance.

We had a nice chat on the phone the other day, and now I have a two part interview to share with you. In the first portion of the interview, John talks about some of the challenges that new immigrants from Africa face. In the second part (coming tomorrow)... more

A friend of mine who has older kids recommended the book God Grew Tired of Us (by John Bul Dau with Michael S. Sweeney) as a good book for teens to read. She said it fascinated her kids and made them more grateful for what they have.

I'm always glad for another tool in my daily 'count your blessings' campaign, so off I went to amazon for the book. I found that the book had the exact same effect on me as it did my friend's children. It is the story of John Bul Dau, who was driven from his village in Sudan in 1987 at the age of 13. He spent... more

Thanks to all of you who commented for my book giveaway. It was great to hear from everyone! The winner of the book is Jill, who blogs at Reeves-Family. Jill, email me your address, and I'll head that book your way!

A few days ago I mentioned that I had a book giveaway planned. The book is by Bono and it is called On The Move. On The Move pairs pictures that Bono took in Ethiopia in 1986 with a speech he gave at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. in 2006. Here is a man whose heart has been in Africa for a long time!

If you have loved ones who have been wondering why your heart is in Africa, hand them this book. This slim volume is a quick read, but it... more

One of the games my children like to play is the game Guess Who? However the more multicultural my family has gotten, the less happy I have been with the game. You see, every face featured on the game is white. Every one. I've thought of cutting some photos out of magazines, making copies of the pictures I've chosen, and remaking our game so that it will be more reflective of our family and the world. So far i haven't gotten around to it.

That's why I literally sighed in delight when I saw this game over at http://www.darlybird.com. Go look. Is that not TOO cute? I have been shopping a... more

In thinking about our plan/hope to adopt an older child next year, my husband and I decided to finally buy an Amharic language program. I discovered quickly that there's not much choice out there. I opted for Talk Now Amharic, and have spent about 3 hours in the last week working on it. It's not awful, but I do have some quibbles with it.

I was disappointed with the speakers that are featured. Despite the lovely African lady on the front of the box, the people that actually show up on nearly every screen of every lesson look like they're from Sweden. I'm disappointed that the company didn't find some African-American speakers.

This program is also not quite a kid-friendly... more