A Quilt of Wishes is a charming little book. It tells how, while a baby girl sleeps in China, her mother waits across the ocean, wondering about her baby. She finds an old quilt that her mother had made for her, and hopes that her baby is warm and loved. She decides to make a quilt for her baby. She uses her own old baby clothes, and friends learn about the project and make squares for the baby’s quilt. They send wishes for the new baby and for the family’s happiness, which the mother repeats to herself as she sews. This makes her feel hopeful and connected to her daughter who is so far away.
The woman mails the quilt, with 50 squares, to the orphanage in China. The baby’s nanny admires it, but in her family it is tradition to give a baby a quilt with 100 squares. She feels badly that this baby’s quilt does not have 100 squares, so she tells fifty women from her village who have come to love the baby during their visits to the orphanage. They work through the night to add fifty more squares to the quilt and return it to the orphanage by the next day.
When the family comes for their daughter, they notice how much larger the quilt is. The nanny tells them,
“Your daughter brought so much love to so many people while she was with us. We all wanted to send good wishes that will stay with her for a lifetime. May she always find strength and courage in fifty wishes from her future and fifty wishes from her past.”
The mother realized that the quilt had brought more comfort to her than to her baby. It made her realize how much her baby had been loved.
“May my daughter always remember the love and kindness that you gave her.”
The nanny responds,
“May your daughter always know that your love for her was strong enough to cross the largest ocean.”
The book was written by an adoptive mother. A slim but beautifully illustrated paperback, it can be purchased for less than ten dollars, making it a great choice for every adoptive family’s library. (Actually I wish it was in everyone’s library so that people could understand the love that both adoptive parents and caregivers feel for their children even when they are far away.) A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a foster care program in China so that more babies may have individualized attention.
Please see these related blogs:
Children’s Books on Adoption from China
Adoption Books for Children: Focus on Korea and Vietnam
Books for Adults on Adoption from China and Korea