February 6, 2017
McLaughlin’s story opens with the “Wonderful You” of the title still inside her birth mother, a “lady in blue” who searches the world for the perfect parents. Certain that she has found a man and woman who will provide “a home for my girl that is loving and kind,” a dreamy handoff takes place in the clouds, the lady disappears on a large white bird, and the delighted couple imagines their future as parents of a daughter. McLaughlin’s (the Mitzi Tulane, Preschool Detective series) lilting rhymes veer into the overly sentimental (“We were made for each other, as families are.../ each one, in its way, a story unfolding/ of laughter and teardrops and arms made for holding”) but So (Follow the Moon Home) delivers ethereal visions of family life. Parents and daughter literally float through a life of snowy scenes, swing sets, and seashores. So’s characters may defy the laws of gravity, but their radiant, almost musical joy speaks to the rewards of magical thinking, and the poignancy of emotional truths. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. Illustrator’s agent: Sally Heflin, Heflinreps.
April 1, 2017
A birth mother searches for the right parents for her unborn child in this story narrated by the adoptive mother."She looked north. She looked south. She traveled the world, / asking, 'Who'll be the parents of this beautiful girl? / I will sail by the moon and the stars till I find / a home for my girl that is loving and kind, / with a soft, cushioned bed and a teddy named Boo. // Nothing less than the best for Wonderful You.' " In a house by the sea, a loving couple awaits, but the birth mother must make sure they are just right. (The artwork here is slightly disturbing: the adoptive mother stretches out her arms toward the birth mother, who is riding on a crescent moon and hugging her pregnant belly; her expression looks shocked, almost as if her babe is being taken away.) After entrusting the baby to the adoptive parents, the birth mother rides a bird back home, and the tale turns to the new family and all that the future holds. The verses border on saccharine, and the rhyme scheme governs both word choice and syntax, making the text a challenge to read aloud. The artwork matches the flights of fancy with watercolor swirls and blotches, but the faces (all pale-skinned) are off-putting, not sweet or loving.Though open adoptions have become more common, they are still not the majority; this is more a single family's adoption story than one that speaks to all adopted children. (Picture book. 4-7)
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March 1, 2017
PreS-K-This poetic tribute to the joyful union of a family and their adopted child greets readers with colorful pen and watercolor vistas and the flowing movement of fantasy flight. "In a faraway land live[s] a lady in blue with a babe in her tummy named Wonderful You." She searches throughout the world for loving parents for her unborn daughter. Spare, lyrical, strategically placed text emphasizes the couple with the child and "a teddy named Boo." Bicycles, swings, rainbows, birds, and flowers fill the sky. Special days pass through the seasons while the child and her family build a cozy home, complete with snowman and snow palaces-a home in the dunes where the "shore hugs the sea." An author's note indicates McLaughlin's personal connection to the topic and celebrates her own family's adopted child. VERDICT This book is a general purchase where needed and an especially good option where there's a gap in adoption titles.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2018
Though inspired by personal experience (per the author's note), McLaughlin endows her heartfelt rhyming story with a fairy-tale tone. A birth mother searches earnestly for the right adoptive parents; the new parents' then describe their delight and plans for the future with the child, "Wonderful You." So's illustrations build on the enchanted vibe, with the family floating joyfully, like figures in a Chagall painting.
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)