Waiting for May

Lovingly told, this sweet if lengthy story looks at the adoption process from the perspective of a boy awaiting his little sister from China. Stoeke (creator of the Minerva Louise picture books and an adoptive mother) offers almost a step-by-step description of the various stages of a Chinese adoption, from paperwork and travel to the anxious first days in a foreign country. Both impatient with the wait and curious about his sister's world (""I find out that they don't have ice cream in orphanages. I knew they didn't have moms and dads there, but I thought they had all the other stuff""), the boy reveals a heartwarming empathy for the sister he's never met (""I wonder if waiting is any easier if you don't know you are waiting""). The cartoon-style illustrations are less successful. With their charcoal pencil lines and flat perspective, the visuals feel too simplistic to support the story's emotional punch. In the final pages, when the family travels to China to pick up the baby and the boy helps comfort his frightened sister, the events seem underserved by the illustrations. Here and throughout the book, however, the story shines through, making this a must-read for families adopting from abroad, especially those with older siblings. Ages 4-up.