Adrienne Lance Lucas | Before You Arrived

Kim .T.

“This is an excellent book that I received this weekend at a book fair in Bermuda ! Please share this with everyone you know that has a young child or that is expecting one. It made me cry. It explains the journey perfectly to children and the illustrations depict people of color. :) Perfect for a shower gift!”

As moms, we all know how inquisitive our little ones can become. From why is the sky blue to where do babies come from, our children want to know it all.

A wonderful new children's book, Before You Arrived , written by Atlanta mom Adrienne Lance Lucas is a special companion for any mother who wants to share the wonders and magic of her pregnancy with her young son or daughter.

Beautifully written and illustrated, Before You Arrived charts the journey and thoughts of an expectant mom through nine, loving months of pregnancy. Perfect for any preschooler! read more

Before You Arrived is a great 24-page family bedtime story for children ages 4 to 7. Parents of younger children will enjoy watching the excitement expressed on their child's face as they substitute his/her name for the word you in the title. Early readers will enjoy the rhythmic pace and lyrical repetition of the text which contributes to building their confidence as they read. The book's lavish and elaborate images of African American characters are drawings adapted from Lance Lucass own personal collection of family photos and are interpreted by illustrator, Tracy McCutchion. read more

US Congressman Trent Franks
"Children are often curious as to what their lives were like when they were young, so young that they cannot remember anything. Adrienne Lance Lucas has written a beautiful narrative of the e x perience a woman feels as she loves, cares for, talks to, sings to, and prays for the child she will soon hold in her arms. It is a wonderful tale for mothers, and an assuring and understandable e x planation for children. I thoroughly recommend this book."

US Congressman Joe Pitts
"With 'Before You Arrived,' Adrienne Lance Lucas has written much more than just a charming children's book. Readers of all ages will not only find an entertaining story within these pages, but a wonderful lesson on the incomparable value of human life."

“It's that notion of children knowing that they were loved before they even got here. As an educator I know it's every important for children to know that they are loved and wanted and it validates their existence and lends itself to their confidence and their ability to take risks and learn because they know that they have a safety net.”

Dr. Hillary Woodson, MD -- Family Medicine
Mother of Felton, 7 and Savannah , 21 months
Washington , D.C.

“…An outstanding wonderful depiction pictorially and through text. It's very child-friendly. I've read it over and over to my two young children and recommend it highly. They love the pictures. For them it brings home what is kind of like make-believe – ‘you actually knew I was there and thought about it and loved me for being there.' Going through another pregnancy with his baby sister and seeing my stomach grow (Felton) came to understand it better.
It should be on the moms-to-be reading list. It would make a great gift basket idea for new moms.”

Patrick Knight, COO Waymouth Farms, Inc.
New Hope , MN
Father of two-year-old Stella

“Before You Arrived “has made it on to Stella's nightly reading list. For the past two weeks, she has requested that I read it to her (out of probably 50 books that she has). In my mind, that is the best evidence that it is a good book.”

Kandance Weems Norris -- Lawyer
Mother of three-year-old Ryan who says Before You Arrived is one of his favorite books.
Media , Pennsylvania

“Usually (Ryan) wants to read two books a night when he goes to bed but the night I read BeforeYou Arrived he wanted to read (the) book twice. I think he likes the book because you see a reflection of yourself in the book and people of color and parents of color. You go back to the time when you were expecting and you see the reflection of their life and their characters and it answers the curiosity of kids who are wondering what it was like before they were born.”

Moraima A. Ivory -- Real Estate Developer
Mother of seven-year-old Janie
Atlanta , GA

“I think that the book is a great way to explain to a child when someone is pregnant in a way that isn't scary. It takes away all fear that is usually associated with pregnancy in a child's eye. My seven-year-old daughter loved it.”