A sweet rhyming book about parents waiting to start their family, leaving room for many paths to family creation.
We waited for you.
Sometimes it seemed everybody we knew—even bears at the zoo—had a baby or two
but we waited for you.
writes Golden Globe and Emmy-winning screenwriter and director Cindy Chupack in her debut picture book. Colored-pencil images by Emily Hamilton show families of various types, including ones with two dads and with single parents, as the text explains how the prospective parents waited and wished and cried in their hopes for a child.
While many of the pages show a variety of prospective parents, the final few focus on one White man and woman. One night, a child “called from a cloud” to tell them that the child was waiting, too. The couple “flew on butterfly wings to your side” because they were “meant to be.” The “called from a cloud” metaphor might not resonate with parents who want to stick with a more realistic explanation of family creation, but others might appreciate the sentiment behind it.
A final spread shows the couple joyously holding their child as other parents around them (including one with two moms) play with their children. I think the book might have greater appeal if it didn’t focus quite so much on the one couple during the denouement, but overall, it feels like a celebration of family creation, regardless of method or family structure.
