The Most Precious Present in the World

Taking the form of a dialogue between a little girl and her adoptive mother, this picture book explores questions that adoptive children often wonder about. Mia wants to know why she looks different to her adoptive parents and why her birth parents didn’t want to keep her.

Although young children might sometimes worry about looking physically different to their family members, The Most Precious Present in the World will help adopted children to understand that physical difference is not a barrier to finding love and security within an adoptive family.

This simple yet engaging story explores themes of loss, separation and belonging, and reassures children that they very special to their adoptive parents, and that it is okay for them to have mixed feelings about their adoption.

Who is this book for?

This book can be used by adoptive parents as well as child placement social workers especially those caring for children adopted from overseas, where striking physical differences may be a factor in the placement. This delightful story will appeal to young adopted children as they begin to explore what it means to be adopted and how this makes them feel.

What you will find in this book

"It always takes my mum a very long time to brush my hair. That’s because it’s so curly. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t curly, sometimes I wish it was straight, just like my mum’s. But mum says my hair is beautiful. She says when she was little she always wanted curly hair just like mine. She says my beautiful, curly hair is a present…"

"You are extra special because you were two presents. You were a present for your birth dad and your birth mum and you were a present for Dad and me."

Additional notes

This book is recommended for adoptions whereby the child was willingly given up for adoption by birth parents, ("They loved you so much, that most of all they wanted to keep you safe and happy. And they knew they couldn’t do that. So they did something very special. They gave you to me and Dad."). While it portrays birth parents in a positive light and is a wonderful way to explain why some babies are given up for adoption, it might not be true of the circumstances surrounding every adoption. We thus encourage adults to exercise discretion before purchasing.

Author

Becky Edwards is an award winning children’s author. She was inspired to write this story when two of her closest friends adopted young children.

This book is published by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), the leading organisation for adoption and fostering in the UK.

Format: Paperback