Two sisters with two moms discuss how adoption made them real sisters.
Sisters Tayja and Mia let their imaginations soar as they play pretend—turning their living room in to a setting for becoming mountain-climbing princesses. What they don’t have to pretend, however, the older Tayja tells Mia, is that they are sisters, even though they are adopted. “Some people don’t know that,” Mia reminds Tayja, and they recount the story of a woman at the grocery store who asked “Are you real sisters?” Their Momma told them that the woman “didn’t understand about adoption.”
Mia joyously responds, “But we do,” and the two go on with their princess game.
I love seeing this tale of siblings. So many books about children with same-sex parents focus on the relationship of a child to the parents—important, to be sure, but hardly the whole picture of what family can mean. The illustrations by Nicole Tadgell further convey the loving and fun relationship between the sisters.
Lambert, whose other books include the subtly gay-inclusive A Crow of His Own
In our family, we understand that being biologically related is not the only way to be a “real” family. We understand that adoption is another way adults become parents and children become daughters and sons, and, maybe, sisters and brothers. And we understand that the often complex circumstances behind the need for adoption require respect for birth families and include diverse stories of love, loss, choice, and hardship—stories belonging first and foremost to adopted children themselves.
Kudos to Lambert for giving voice to at least one of those stories. Real Sisters Pretend is an obvious recommendation for many adoptive families—but also for any families hoping to share with their kids the many ways that families may form.
Tayja is Black; Mia is White or possibly Latina.
