With wry humor, parents often observe their children’s fascination with the packaging in which a toy arrives. Sometimes kids find the box more entertaining than the gift because it can engage their imagination in innumerable ways, limited only by their creativity. Long after an expensive gift has lost its appeal a box has the potential to be reinvented into something new, engaging, and personally relevant.

I’ve previously reviewed books that explore the magic of boxes. (Access these reviews with these links: 1, 2 ) The Gift inside the Box by Adam and Allison Sweet Grant and illustrated by Diana Schoenbrun is a fresh riff on this theme. The book design is so original! It looks and opens like a box! This adds a delightful and unexpected element of fun. Kids love opening boxes, In fact, there are YouTube channels entirely devoted to “unboxing” items!

This book offers a chance to enjoy the idea of gifting from both the giver’s and receiver’s perspective which is a great way to expand both their imagination and their empathy.

AQ Lens: Our children are like presents to be unwrapped and discovered. Each reflects their own unique sets of talents, interests and biological traits. Because adoptees are the fruit of a different family tree, the mystery and magic of their unfolding is doubly intriguing. It is important for families to value this process and to carve space for their children to reveal and fulfill their potential; a book like this can open the door to discussing this topic. Kids benefit from knowing that their families value them for whom they genuinely are as distinct from some predetermined idea of who they ought to be.

Gayle H. Swift, co-founder of GIFT Family Services, author of: ABC, Adoption & Me; We’re Adopted, So What?; Reimagining Adoption: What Adoptees Seek from Families and Faith