Foster Care & Adoption Children’s Books
- Chad Hensiak
- Aug 22, 2017
- 9 min read
There are a lot of reasons to read to your child(ren)! It doesn’t matter if they are your biological, foster, or adopted children, they need us to read to them.
For Foster & Adopted Children, however, it is important to include books that discuss the Foster Care &/or Adoption topic. There are many reasons why, but, in my opinion, the three most important reasons include:
Identity
It is important for children to understand their history and how that might affect their identity. Adult adoptees often struggle with who they are today vs. who they were when they were born. If we start the identity conversation when the child is young, it will help as they mature to better understand their identity. A Lifebook is another critical component to aid in this ongoing identity conversation.
Bonding
At times, bonding is not as immediate as it may be with a biological child. There is a level of intimacy when a Foster/Adoptive parent reads to their child(ren) that can help with the bonding process.
Engage with your child after reading the story –
Ask them questions about how they felt about the story
Whether it reminded them of a different story
What they might have been wondering about while you were reading it.
Encourage the floodgates to open. Listening is sometimes all that is needed.
Educational Growth
We all know that reading to a young child helps them in school. Listening to an adult read helps the child:
Understand the concept of print in books
Builds word and sound awareness
Extends their vocabulary
Builds imagination and abstract thinking
Below are books that I’ve found surrounding the Foster Care &/or Adoption topics. Click on the book title to see more about it on Amazon.
Foster Care:
For many children in foster care, the answer to many questions is often maybe. Maybe Days is a straightforward look at the issues of foster care, the questions that children ask, and the feelings that they confront. A primer for children going into foster care, the book also explains in children's terms the responsibilities of everyone involved - parents, social workers, lawyers and judges. As for the children themselves, their job is to be a kid - and there's no maybe about that.
Age Range: 4 - 7 years
All families change over time. Sometimes a baby is born, or a grown-up gets married. And sometimes a child gets a new foster parent or a new adopted mom or dad. Children need to know that when this happens, it’s not their fault. They need to understand that they can remember and value their birth family and love their new family, too. Straightforward words and full-color illustrations offer hope and support for children facing or experiencing change. Includes resources and information for birth parents, foster parents, social workers, counselors, and teachers.
Age Range: 4 - 10 years
“Kids are important… They need safe places to live, and safe places to play.” For some kids, this means living with foster parents. In simple words and full-color illustrations, this book explains why some kids move to foster homes, what foster parents do, and ways kids might feel during foster care. Children often believe that they are in foster care because they are “bad.” This book makes it clear that the troubles in their lives are not their fault; the message throughout is one of hope and support. Includes resources and information for parents, foster parents, social workers, counselors, and teachers.
Age Range: 4 - 10 years
Murphy, a Tibetan Terrier puppy, is told he is a 'good luck dog' - he is cheerful, happy, and loves to play and wag his tail. However, after going through two different homes and an animal shelter, Murphy starts to feel like a 'bad luck dog' who nobody wants.
Age Range: 3 - 6 years
This story for adopted and foster children describes the adventures of Zachary the kitten, who is taken from his mother's house when she is unable to take care of him. It follows Zachary as he goes into foster care, his adoption by a family of geese and his feelings of shame, anger and hurt.
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Love You From Right Here takes you through an abbreviated look at the emotions a young foster child experiences throughout her transition in a new foster home. It also serves as a keepsake book with a journaling section providing the foster family an opportunity to give the child a piece of their history when they leave.
Age Range: 2 - 10 years
The story is told through the eyes of the main character, Sammy, who is himself going through the Foster Care process. He refers to feelings of fear and doubt about his holiday to another family, but he is delighted to find that his new family are kind, caring and have time to have fun with him! By the time Sally the social worker comes to collect him he is feeling happy and safe in his new home. He returns to his family to find them happier than they had been when he left, and positive that he will have no fear of returning to a similar holiday family.
MOM’S GONE...begins on the day that Frey’s mom doesn’t come home. Certain that she will return in a few days, Frey takes very good care of himself, makes food, goes to bed on time, and goes to school. But when his teacher realizes that Frey is living alone, she contacts Child Protective Services, who puts Frey into foster care. First in the Foster Heroes Series, MOM'S GONE...takes you through Frey’s journey, and how he finally finds a home where he makes friends, and feels safe, until his mom can return home.
MY PARENTS MADE A MISTAKE…begins when Harmony breaks her arm, and her mom takes her to the hospital emergency room. Not only does Harmony's arm hurt, but she's confused by all the strange questions. Suddenly, Miss Eddy, a kind lady (with hairy hands!), takes Harmony to live with a foster family.
This story is narrated by a spirited young girl who is living with her Aunt Dane (not her real aunt) for a while, until her mother is able to care for her again. She experiences the emotional ups and downs of living in an unfamiliar home and being separated from her mother.
Age Range: 6 - 9 years
"That's impossible", said twins Jeremy & Liza after their Mom told them they're all connected by this thing called an Invisible String. "What kind of string"? They asked with a puzzled look to which Mom replied, "An Invisible String made of love." That's where the story begins. A story that teaches of the tie that really binds. The Invisible String reaches from heart to heart. Does everybody have an Invisible String? How far does it reach, anyway? Does it ever go away?
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Steps in My Shoes is a true account of my journey through the foster care system and beyond. Going through four foster homes, two adoptive homes, five behavioral facilities, and battling with reactive attachment disorder (RAD), and sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) certainly taught me a lot.
Age Range: Adult
Adoption:
Rosie's Family is a story about belonging in a family regardless of differences. Rosie is a beagle who was adopted by schnauzers. She feels different from the rest of her family, including her brother, who is the biological child of her parents, and sets forth many questions that children who were adopted may have.
Family is about love no matter how different parents and children may be, adopted or not. Choco wishes he had a mother, but who could she be? He sets off to find her, asking all kinds of animals, but he doesn't meet anyone who looks just like him. He doesn't even think of asking Mrs. Bear if she's his mother-but then she starts to do just the things a mommy might do. And when she brings him home, he meets her other children-a piglet, a hippo, and an alligator-and learns that families can come in all shapes and sizes and still fit together.
Age Range: 2 - 5 years
As little fox gets ready for bed, Mama Fox tells him the miraculous story of his special arrival. This heartwarming and tender tale captures the immensity of looking at God through a young child’s eyes and the profoundness of the blessings that adoption brings to both parent and child.
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell, author and illustrator of the best-selling When I Was Little: A Four Year Old's Memoir of Her Youth, have joined together again to create a fresh new picture book for every parent and every child. In asking her parents to tell her again about the night of her birth, a young girl shows that it is a cherished tale she knows by heart. Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born is a unique, exuberant story about adoption and about the importance of a loving family.
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
I Wished for You: An Adoption Story follows a conversation between a little bear named Barley and his Mama as they curl up in their favorite cuddle spot and talk about how they became a family. Barley asks Mama the kinds of questions many adopted children have, and Mama lovingly answers them all.
Age Range: 2 - 5 years
"Yes, adoption makes me special, it means that I am loved…" This brightly colored children's book illustrates how adoption is brought about by love. Written from a child's point of view, the rhyming verse takes you through an adoption journey from start to finish. It is perfect for anyone, young or old, whose life has been blessed by adoption.
In a kid-friendly, accessible way, this book explores the ways that people can choose to come together to make a family. It's about sharing your home and sharing your heart to make a family that belongs together.
Age Range: 3 - 6 years
When young Morgan asks, "Did my first mother love me?" her adoptive mother reads her a letter written by Morgan’s birth mother. This birth mother’s love, concern, and caring for her child come through loud and clear as she explains the kind of life she wants for her child. Sadly, she explains, she cannot provide that life for her child, so she has given her a different set of parents. “My dearest child, to your parents I have given the precious gift of you,” she writes. A reassuring story, this book can be adapted to the reader’s family situation.
Age Range: 3 - 8 years
Step by loving step, a couple prepares their home for the arrival of their adopted baby. "When the happy couple holds their smiling infant for the first time ... the joy is almost palpable". -- Publishers Weekly.
Age Range: 2 - 5 years
The Tummy Mummy has been named a, "Top 25 Adoption Books for Children," by Adoption Mama Blog. This beautifully illustrated and compassionately written book honors the adoption triad in a respectful and loving way. It's a wonderful tool for supporting adoption dialogue!
Age Range: 4 and up
This rhyming story celebrates the bond between parent and child in a special way. Through the exchanges between a little Chinese girl and her adoptive parent, this title offers a poignant and inspiring message to adoptive parents and children all over the world.
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
A king and queen should be full of joy and contentment, but they both feel a strange pain that worsens every day. Then a peddler's magic spectacles reveal a red thread pulling at each of their hearts. The king and queen know they must follow the thread.
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
A must read for prospective adoptive and foster parents as well as those already in the trenches of caring for a child affected by fetal substance abuse, early childhood trauma, abandonment, and attachment issues.
Age Range: Adult
Many of these books are books that we read to our children too! What other books do you read to your children? Did we miss any from this list? Have you read any of these books with your child(ren)? If so, tell us what you think of them!
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