Skip to content

THE STORY I'LL TELL

Jessica Lanan Nancy Tupper Ling

In this tender story of international adoption, a mother weaves a magical web of tales to explain how her child came to be part of the family.
A young child asks his mother to tell the story of where he came from. "I might tell how you came from a land far away in a hot air balloon. The basket slowly drifted down like a feather into our yard. I dropped the firewood I was carrying and ran to you." Or maybe it was a lark - and not a stork - that brought the child to the mother. Or perhaps he was rescued from a dragon! Each lyrical and fantastic tale contains a small kernel of truth that pieces together the baby's journey across a wide ocean into his new mother's arms. Beautifully illustrated by Jessica Lanan, THE STORY I'LL TELL is a gentle and moving story of adoption and parental love that is sure to touch the hearts of readers everywhere, no matter how they came to be a family. Nancy Tupper Ling is the winner of the Writer's Digest Grand Prize and the Pat Parnell Poetry Award, and founder of Fine Line Poets, a website for poets who live in New England. She was inspired to write THE STORY I'LL TELL by the multicultural background of her own family and the experiences of friends who have adopted children from all over the world. Jessica Lanan received her B.A. In art at Scripps College and has traveled extensively in Asia and Europe. Ling resides in Walpole, Massachusetts, with her family. You can visit her online at nancytupperling.com. Jessica Lanan is an award-winning author, illustrator, and painter who also illustrated Lee & Low's Good Fortune in a Wrapping Cloth. She received her B.A. in Art from Scripps College and then traveled extensively throughout Asia and Europe. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her family. You can see more of her work at jessicalanan.com.
Available products
Book

Published 2015-11-01 by Lee & Low

Comments

Beautifully illustrated by Jessica Lanan, THE STORY I'LL TELL is a gentle and moving story of adoption and parental love that is sure to touch the hearts of readers everywhere, no matter how they came to be a family. Read more...

...an unabashed love letter, one that many families will treasure. Read more...

For many transracial adoptees who have crossed oceans to join their families, that birth story can often be a mystery. Here, author Nancy Tupper Ling adds whimsy and joy to the son's origins, while artist Jessica Lanan paints Ling's visions in magical swathes of glowing, multilayered hues. Page by page, this Story resonates throughout with love and laughter that turn tears to smiles. It's quite the resplendent reminder that families are created in any number of ways... and that children - however they arrive in your arms - are the "best gift we ever received." Amen to that. Read more...

This imaginative look at the power of international adoption and the formation of a family is endearing and magical. It is a rich tapestry of illustration filled with Chinese symbols. A gem of a book for adoptive families, this picture book conveys the joy of adoption and the wonder of finding one another and forming a family. Read more...

"The Story I'll Tell" is an amazing, respectful, sensitive exploration of intercultural adoption that many families will gladly welcome. Read more...

Love for an adoptive child guides fanciful musings about his origins... A heartwarming conclusion ties the mother's fanciful stories to the parents' real flight through the sky with their new baby and acknowledges that "the truth is a beautiful story too." Read more...

...Though there are plenty of picture books for new children, adoption stories are somewhat less common than birth stories, and this is a particularly well-done example of an adoption fairy tale that is sure to be a comforting resource to parents and children alike... Read more...