Local Author to Participate in Virtual Storytime Event for National Adoption Month

Tom Tracy always wanted to be a writer but it wasn’t until he found a need arising from the diverse makeup of his own family that he finally took the leap.

“My kids were my inspiration to write, and they continue to be,” Tracy said.

Tracy, a licensed clinical social worker from Gloucester Township, and his husband Elliott decided they wanted to start a family and agreed that adoption was the route they would take to do so.

They adopted their first daughter Alice Catherine in December of 2016, and their second, Micah, four years ago.

Adding to the diverse nature of their new family unit was the fact that the kids they welcomed into their lives came from ethnic backgrounds different from their own. 

“Both of my girls are of a different race than we are,” he said. “Our oldest child is biracial and our youngest is African-American.”

Tracy said it was when he began reading to his older daughter and discovered that he couldn’t find any children’s books with families like his that he decided to do something about it.

“There were books that talked about two dads,” Tracy said. “There were books that showed different color families, but there were very few books that showed two dads with children that were of a different race. 

“And so now I’ve got this kid on my lap, and this kid doesn’t see families like theirs in the stories that are being read to her. That was the inspiration for me to say, ‘well, I can be part of the solution here.’ I started to write stories based on my own family and characters that resemble our family.”

November is National Adoption Month and Tracy is joining other children’s authors in a series of “Virtual Family Storytime” events, where the writers will read their books related to adoption to event attendees over Zoom.

Tracy’s event takes place on Tues., Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., as part of the program organized by the New Jersey Adoptive Resource Clearing House (NJ ARCH).

He’ll be reading his book “Wonderfully You: An Ode to Adoption,” which deals with the subject of welcoming a second adopted child into a family of three.

Tracy said he came to be involved with NJ ARCH through his own experiences with adoption, and said once he began writing, he provided the organization with his books for their lending library as a resource for other families.

He said folks at the organization mentioned to him that they wanted to conduct some kind of a storytime event and they began to figure out ways to make it work.

“They are truly the organizers behind the event, but I was kind of their collaborator,” Tracy said.

As an added bonus for attendees of any of the events, Tracy said he came up with an additional idea where families can have their kids draw a picture of what their family looks like to them. The parents can then send those pictures in through an online form, and Tracy then plans to take those drawings and make a special gift.

“I’m going to create a private digital book just for the participating families,” he said.

As another added bonus for Tracy’s part of the series, Miss New Jersey United States, Tiziana Pierini, will be joining in for the presentation.

Tracy said he had a booth set up at last month’s Collingswood Book Festival, when he spotted a peculiar sight.

“I look over and there’s this woman walking down the street with the sash on and next to her is this guy holding a crown in like an enclosed case,” he said. “I’m like, ‘what is this?’ It happens to be Miss New Jersey.”

Tracy said he struck up a conversation with Pierini and it turned out one of the causes she’s working to bring attention to is children’s literacy, so their eventual collaboration seemed like a perfect fit.

“I told her what we were doing and she said she would be thrilled, because it’s so aligned with her platform,” he said. “She’s going to be our special guest.”

The book Tracy is reading for the event is just one of six children’s books he’s published, along with accompanying workbooks and coloring books, and he said he has two more titles ready to go for next year.

Another project Tracy said he’s particularly proud of is a catalog he put together earlier this year called the “Catalog of Diverse Kids Books.”

Feeling somewhat helpless as he saw diversity initiatives coming under attack across the country, he felt he needed to do something about it.

“I did a social media shout out, and I got 100 authors from across the globe united and we produced a  200-page catalog,” he said of the volume he created as a resource for parents, teachers and librarians.

“All kinds of diverse categories of stories are represented, and we’re just super proud,” he said. “It was this global effort with local organizational support – especially as a way to counter book banning. Maybe there’s  some books that are getting pulled off your shelves, but here’s a catalog of other books that you might be able to use to replace those books.”

But at the core of everything Tracy has created is that love for his family that initially made him decide to take action, and the simple belief that all kids, and all people, deserve to see examples of their own experience in the world around them.

“Diverse families and just diversity in general representation in children’s books is super important to me,” Tracy said. “Kids need to see themselves reflected in the books that they’re reading and it gives them value and it gives them importance and it helps them to be seen and heard. And at the same time, kids need to see other types of kids, other types of families to truly appreciate and accept the value that all people bring.” 

For more information about Tom Tracy, his books and events, including his upcoming Virtual Family Storytime book reading, visit www.tomtracybooks.com.