Book Review: Ten Days and Nine Nights

We have several books--most for adults, and some for children--about adoption. I have been meaning to blog about them for some time, but you know how that goes ... ;o)

One book that I have to tell you about right now is Ten Days and Nine Nights. It's an adoption story by Yumi Heo, and it is Kate's favorite book right now. We got it for her birthday last month, and she LOVES it. She sleeps with it every night and has it memorized, sort of. In fact, I just posted a video on YouTube that Tanna took of Kate "reading" the book earlier this evening. (See the blog entry just prior to this one.)

The book is very simple, and the illustrations are so cute. The story is told from a little girl's perspective--she is about to become a big sister via adoption. In the book, she counts down the days until her little sister comes home from South Korea. She stays home with her father while her mother travels to Korea--the illustrations show the mother on the airplane (flying what appears to be Korean Air), at the adoption agency, picking up the baby, and on the plane back home with the little sister.

In the meantime, the countdown is on, and our adorable narrator tells us what she and other family members did during the 10 days and nine nights that her mother was away. For example, she starts off by marking a circle on the calendar; later, she practices her new role as a big sister by holding a baby doll. She also shares her news with a friend ("I tell Molly") and explains how her father and grandparents prepare (buying new furniture, making a pink dress, etc.).

One thing in the book that had Tanna and me cracking up is toward the end. Right before the mother is to come home with the baby, the father puts a closed sign on his dry-cleaning store. LOL! We were laughing because this is very stereotypical--for Korean-American families to own dry-cleaning stores. (In fact, Tanna's family had a dry-cleaning business for many years. Tanna spent many, many hours working there and is very particular about how his clothes are pressed because of it. He does most of the ironing around here, by the way. He is very good at it--and fast! But I digress ...)

Apparently, we aren't the only ones who thought twice about the dry-cleaning business in the story. I found this review a little while ago. I must admit that I did wonder about a seemingly Korean-American family adopting from Korea (not so much because of the financial reason given in the link, but more so because of Korean attitudes toward adoption). I think Koreans embracing adoption is WONDERFUL (obviously)--even if it is not the most realistic situation. But hopefully that is changing and Korean attitudes toward adoption in general will continue to change. And here I go ... digressing again ...

I guess I'd also like to say that it's nice to see Koreans (or what seems to be a Korean-American family) depicted in a book about adopting from Korea. YAY!

This book has been wonderful for Kate. It's helped us to talk to her about adoption and to prepare her for recent events. It also is very age-appropriate. And it's just plain adorable. The book shows this little girl who is excited about becoming a big sister through adoption, and it has been so sweet to see Kate be excited about her new role as well. The book has been such a great tool for us, we even took it to the airport and read it while we were waiting to meet Isaac. (At the end of the book, the family goes to the airport to meet the mother who has just returned from South Korea with the baby sister. So sweet.)

Thank you, Yumi Heo, for such a touching, adorable, and relevant book that serves as an excellent conversation-starter for little ones who are preparing to welcome siblings through adoption. We give this book five stars!



I took these photos week before last (I think). Kate opted to sleep on the floor (which she sometimes does) on this particular night. She has a tight grip on her "Ten Nine Nights" book (as she calls it). Like I said, she LOVES this story!