This book fills a tremendous need in the adoption community. One of the most critical aspects of child placing is preparing the child for the experience ahead, and we are sorely lacking in tools to use for Russian children coming into this country. What increases the value of this book is that it can be used by the Russian orphanage staff in advance of placement, and then can be used by the American adoptive parents many more times as their children learn English. What a tremendous gift from a gifted professional! Adela Jones, LMSW, Adoption Counselor & Educator This is a wonderful story, beautifully told and stunningly illustrated. It’s about feelings: the feelings of adopted children brought here to America, from Russia. I follow the Church Fathers and the more humanistic psychologies in believing feelings to be our spiritual senses the way our spirits touch, and are touched by the world. And, I’m romantic enough to believe that children (much more than we almost insensible adults, racing to and fro to get to we-know-not-where) are alive with feelings, sensitive to their beauty and music, susceptible to their pain and complications. This book which should be read aloud and often, held, caressed and wondered at speaks directly through its gracious portraiture of feeling to the spirits of these children with a luminous message of healing and love. I recommend it highly. I’m grateful that it exists.

Randolph W. Severson, Ph.D., Author, Dear Birthfather

"This book fills a tremendous need in the adoption community. One of the most critical aspects of child placing is preparing the child for the experience ahead, and we are sorely lacking in tools to use for Russian children coming into this country. What increases the value of this book is that it can be used by the Russian orphanage staff in advance of placement, and then can be used by the American adoptive parents many more times as their children learn English. What a tremendous gift from a gifted professional!"

Adela Jones, LMSW, Adoption Counselor & Educator

The journey from Russia to America to find a forever family can be overwhelming for a young child and for all those who love and care about her. Never before has there been a book that gently and lovingly prepares the heart of a child for the myriad of emotions she will experience in being adopted internationally. The simple and straightforward language of Adoption Is Okay will help a child to identify and clarify her feelings. The beautifully and authentically illustrated pictures will aid in preserving her valuable memories of her Russian birth family, orphanage family, land and culture. Adoption Is Okay needs to be in every orphanage in Russia that places its children in America, and on the bookshelf of every American family who seeks to adopt a Russian-born child into their home.

Carol L. Demuth, LMSW-ACP, Adoption Counselor & Educator

Sylvia Rohde, M.A. is a Licensed Professional Counselor and maintains a private practice in Dallas, Texas. She provides counseling and support to individuals and families affected by many experiences including loss and grief, adoption (domestic and international), infertility, sexual abuse, and attachment issues. Mrs. Rohde has worked with both domestic and international adoptive families for several years, and has presented on international adoption at numerous orientations and seminars. She has traveled to Russia and was privileged to visit several orphanages in St. Petersberg and Syzran. This book was written to help children being placed for adoption in an international family to understand what they think and feel about their adoption experience.