My Review of "Once Upon a Time An Adoption Story" By Ashley Hansen Bigler and Amy Hintze

I received a very beautiful childrens book to review. Not only does it have a great story, but the illustrations are realistic and so well done. Even better, this story made me cry while I read it to my kids.

Here is the premise of the book:

"A mother tells her young adopted daughter how, through the love of her birth mother and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she came to be a part of her forever family.Filled with beautiful illustrations by Amy Hintze, it is a sweet tale of a child's journey to her forever family. Written by Ashley Bigler."

My life has always been surrounded by the miracle of adoption. My two older siblings, as well as myself, were all adopted as babies. I still remember the day that we all went to the Idaho Falls temple to be sealed together as an Eternal family. When my husband and I had trouble conceiving a child, of course the first thing that went through my mind was adoption. That was just the best and right thing to do. We were blessed by the gift of adoption when our daughter was sent to us. It was the happiest day of my life! I was finally a mom and it was because of the selfless gift of a precious birth mom.

Even though my daughter is now 12, I still wanted to sit and read it with her. As I read the book, I felt like the words were coming straight from my heart. All of the feelings that had been in my heart, as we went through each step of the adoption process, were being expressed in print. The excitement we felt when we found that we had been chosen and had to call everyone to tell them.Some of the pages that truly made me cry were about meeting the birth mother. "I was even able to feel you move in her tummy. I couldn't believe how much I loved you without even seeing you." I can still remember that moment when I met my daughter's birth mother. I couldn't believe,that my soon-to- be little girl, was moving and kicking.

Another part of the book that made the tears flow was about meeting the baby for the first time, "That was the best day of all. You were the most beautiful baby. When I held you for the first time. it felt like I had known you forever. I never wanted to let you go, but I knew I had to share you with your Daddy."


Ashley and Amy have done such an amazing job with this book. You can feel the inspiration from above as you read this book. It makes you feel, how truly blessed everyone is who is touched by the miracle of adoption.
I highly recommend this book for all families who have been blessed to adopt their precious children. I also recommend this book, to give as a gift, for someone who may be struggling whether or not to adopt. You can see and feel, the pure joy and happiness, that comes from the miracle of adoption while reading this book.

The release date for Once Upon a Time: An Adoption Story is set for

April 2010

At that time, the book will be available from the publisher at www.cedarfort.com If you would like a copy of the book before that, you can get it here on sale for 9.99. This is the website for Ashley Bigler where you can learn more about the book and the author.

If you are on facebook you can go join the group, Once Upon a Time: An Adoption Story.

Thank you Ashley and Amy for sharing your talents. Also, thank you for all of the lives that you will bless when people read this book. I know as an adopted child, it made me feel very special.