In We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo by Linda Walvoord Girard (1989), Benjamin describes his journey from an orphanage in Korea. (I assume he means South Korea.) Life is lovely until second grade when he suddenly realizes he looks different from his parents and peers. He’s angry. A school counselor helps Benjamin process the fact that his parents are not his biological parents. “How do you know a duck is a duck?” she asks. The answer is “it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and acts like a duck.” Benjamin has a real mom in his adopted family for the same reason. Life is still difficult though because classmates diss him and adult strangers are confused by his multi racial family. His sister is adopted from Brazil. On the last page, Benjamin gives advice to any reader who may also be adopted. “You might have been born somewhere else or look different from your parents, but that has nothing to do with love.” Linda Shute’s illustrations complement the text nicely.
