Search Results for: blog gifts and books for adoptive families

Lines of Ethnic and Multi-Ethnic Dolls

Earlier I wrote about the website Dolls Like Me, featuring dolls, room décor, skin care products, puzzles and many other gifts for children of varying and mixed ethnicities. My first blog focused on the non-doll parts of the website. Here I will focus on some of the lines of other dolls I found there. I’ll focus on product lines that can be found on multiple sites and locations. I should note first that American Girls dolls, in addition to dolls of the historical characters featured in the American Girl books, have a line of “just like me” dolls with about … Continue reading →

Shopping Website Review: Mandy’s Moon

Mandy’s Moon was started by a mom who adopted a two-year-old and a ten-year-old from Vietnam. She began the site the year after her first daughter arrived, when she realized how hard it was to find objects picturing Asian children. She has expanded to carry merchandise featuring all races, and offers a special personalization service in which not only names, but nicely-drawn cartoon faces of different races, can be put together on products. The “My Family” service gives you ability to select images that resemble your family to be printed on your T-shirt, apron, mug, etc. The images can be … Continue reading →

Multicultural Gifts and Greetings

Just in time for holiday shopping, I’ve discovered Dollslikeme.com,a website which has many dolls, but much more, including hard-to-find ethnic Santas, puzzles, and accessories such as a tea set with images of an Asian ballerina on the “china” (also available with other ethnicity shown). The tea set was rather pricey, but the site also includes more modestly priced items, such as a 14-inch doll that comes with a diary for $30. You can buy gift tags with Santas of different ethnicities. The site carries a line of greeting cards featuring photos of Asian children—for example, as a Christmas elf. The … Continue reading →

Month in Review: Adoption Blog, December 2007

I began the month with a book review that tied in to my November series on coping with discrimination and racism. The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate is based on an inspiring true story of how a town in Montana came together when Jewish and African-American families were terrorized. Then I ran Part One and Part Two Part Two of Is It Okay to Be Choosy? regarding the comments adopting parents often get that if they “really wanted to help”, they’d choose the most needy child or the one with the most special needs–and sometimes we lay this … Continue reading →

Gifts and Books for Adoptive Families

Why not use your shopping dollars to help people in your child’s country? Fair trade catalogs such as A Greater Gift (formerly SERRV) feature handicrafts that enable artisans to support themselves. From jewelry made by polio victims in Africa to ornaments and housewares from Chile, Guatemala, Vietnam, and India, this site has a small toy section with wooden puzzles, knitted finger puppets, and a large musical instrument section, a large furniture/dishes/table linens/home décor section, and accessories such as mittens, scarves, caps and hair ornaments. They have a range of inexpensive gifts such as candleholders or desk accessories or earrings. They … Continue reading →

Toys and Dolls for Multicultural Families

Today I’ll share some truly unique websites for ordering multicultural gifts, such as dolls of different ethnicities and disabilities, art supplies, books, puppets, videos, ornaments and more. I realize some of you organized folks are done shopping, but I’d still like to share what I’ve come across and suggest that you bookmark these sites for next year or for your next birthday or “Gotcha Day” celebration. Started by an adoptive mother of girls from Vietnam, Mandy’s Moon features ornaments that you can customize with a message and with faces (up to four) with nine choices of skin and hair color. … Continue reading →

One of the Best Gifts You Can Give Your Child: a Lifebook

A “lifebook” in the adoption community has similarities to a scrapbook, a baby book and a storybook. However, its main purpose is to provide the adopted child with a sense of continuity and a way to make sense of the past. Most adoptive parents have plenty of photos dating from their child’s arrival. But some adopted children have been known to believe that they were not born as other children are born, that they literally came from an airplane or an agency or sprang into existence as preschoolers. Others are old enough to realize they had a prior existence. While … Continue reading →

Shop to Help Kids!

I’d like to remind all of our readers that we can use our holiday shopping dollars to support people around the world, including our children’s countries of origin. Charities and/or fair trade cooperatives, which provide local craftspeople training and the chance to earn a fair price for their work, probably operate in your child’s country of origin, whatever that may be. One website alone (SERRV, which I reviewed last year) carries plaques and sculptural art made by Haitian artisans using recycled oil drums. SERRV carries scarves and textiles from India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Nepal as well as tableware from Chile … Continue reading →

More Just-Right Dolls

My last blogs told of two lines of dolls, one of school-age dolls and one of baby dolls, that had adoption stories attached to the dolls. Another source of dolls for multicultural families is Joy’s Waldorf Dolls. The unique thing about this site: kits, patterns and doll parts are sold so that you can craft your own doll in whole or in part. Five shades of fabric are available for the skin, and five types of hair also. Floss in different colors is available for eyes, noses, mouths. There is an instructional DVD available for purchase, and a limited selection … Continue reading →

Baby Dolls with Adoption Stories

My last blog talked about a line of school-age dolls which each had a story including adoption. I was very surprised to find a second line of dolls—baby dolls this time—who each have an adoption story. Precious Doll Company was founded by Mary Beth Wells, who placed her first child for adoption and then later adopted a daughter herself. Mary Beth says on her website that she had a three-fold dream: to reunite with her birth daughter, to become a parent herself, and to found a book and doll company that would breathe life into stories of adoption by recognizing … Continue reading →