One of the first children’s books to depict a two-mom adoptive family, this 2004 title is a poetic ode from the parents to their child. “When you were born, the sun had shone for only a few hours,” it begins. “We were living our lives, unaware, but hoping you would arrive.” This begs the question of whether the sun burst into being just a few hours before the child’s arrival, but I think the intent was to indicate that it was still morning. We see the women getting a call that the child has been born, rushing to the hospital, and singing loving lullabies that “we never thought we would get a chance to sing.” They take the child home and “the sun has been shining ever since.”
A note at the beginning says that “Growing up gay in the 1970s,” author Stephanie Burks “long believed that motherhood was not an option for her,” but “Thanks to a supreme act of generosity, one birthmother allowed Stephanie and her partner to realize their ultimate dream.” It’s a shame the birthmother is completely absent from the story itself, although it is perhaps not surprising given the book’s publication before open adoption became common.
This sweet self-published book is mostly of historical interest now.
The moms are White; their child is Black.
