Children’s Books & Resources
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Adoption is for Always by Linda Walvoord Girard.
Kindergarten-Grade 3 Celia (who appears to be
five or six years old) has always known that she was adopted, but she is just beginning to
understand the significance of the word. Although her parents deal with her questions with honesty
and love, Celia experiences a confused mixture of fear and anger. Was she given up because she
was bad? Would her birthmother come and take her away from her adoptive parents? Her parents
and teacher stress the love that her birthparents felt for her, as well as how much she is loved and
wanted by her adoptive family. In addition to her birthday, Celia and her parents decide to celebrate
her adoption day each year.
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Mama, Do You Love Me? By Barbara Joosse and Barbara Lavelle.
This exceptional book tells a
beautiful and timeless story about a daughter's attempt to find the limit of her mother's love.
Barbara Lavallee's exquisite illustrations of Alaska, with their exaggeratedly foreshortened
perspective and rich tones of violet, blue-gray, and gray-green, tell of an easy declaration ("I love
you more than the raven loves his treasure, more than the dog loves his tail, more than the whale
loves his spout") that is pushed, and pushed, and ("What if I put salmon in your parka ... and
ermine in your mukluks?") pushed. There's a quiet joyfulness in both the antics of the Inuit mother
and daughter and in the animals--including a polar bear and a musk ox--that the daughter imagines
she might become. A charming story for mothers and daughters of all ages. (Baby to preschool)
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Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies by Ann Turner.
PreSchool-Grade 2-- A simple story
narrated by a young Southeast Asian boy about his adoption by an American couple ("Let me tell
the story this time, Momma. Let me tell how I came to you.") He tells of receiving photographs of
his new parents, a white house, and a red dog. He carries them on the long and frightening journey
by plane to his new family. At the airport, his new parents hold out their arms to him and take him
home. That night, tucked into his quilt with his teddy bear, he sleeps and dreams "of moon and
stars and night skies and coming to a room where your arms were always held out to me." This
touching, memorable tale is illustrated in warm watercolor-and-ink pictures that gently contrast the
narrator's Asian home with his new life in America. It will serve as a meaningful introduction to
adoption as well as a starting point for a discussion on cultural transitions.
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Oh My Baby Little One by Kathi Appelt.
As comforting as morning sun, this sweet, tenderly
illustrated rhyming poem will reassure both preschoolers and their working parents that separation
is only temporary. When a baby bird's mother hugs him before dropping him off at school, she
reminds him that "even when I'm far away,/ this love I have will stay/ and wrap itself around you/
every minute of the day."Ages 2-5.
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A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza.
Choco was a little bird who lived all alone. He wished he had a
mother, but who could his mother be? Age 3-6.
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Kids Like Me in China by Ying Ying Fry and Terry Fry.
In this first view of China adoption from a
child's perspective, eight-year-old Ying Ying Fry returns to her orphanage to remember what it is
like and to write a story so that other adopted children will understand where they came from. Kids
Like Me in China combines real-life photos with the forthright observations and complex feelings of
an adopted child as she meets caregivers and befriends children in the city where her life began.
This book will inspire all adopted children to take charge of their own life stories. Age 9 and up.
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Star of the Week by Darlene Friedman. It's Cassidy—Li's turn to be Star of the Week at school!
So she's making brownies and collecting photos for her poster. She has pictures of all the important
people in her life—with one big exception. Cassidy—Li, adopted from China when she was a baby,
doesn't have a photo of her birthparents. But with a little help from her family, she comes up with
the perfect way to include them! Ages 5-9.
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Grace Lin Series of Books – Ages 8 and up. Most books do not have an adoption related theme
but have Asian characters.
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The Year of the Dog – A Pacey Lin Novel, Ages 8 and up
The Year of the Rat- A Pacey Lin Novel, Ages 8 and up
Dumpling Days - A Pacey Lin Novel, Ages 8 and up
Starry River Sky – Ages 8 and up
Ling & Ting – Not Exactly the Same! Ages 6-9
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Ages 8 and up
Fortune Cookies Fortunes, Ages 3-7
Dim Sum for Everyone! Ages 3-7
Kite Flying, Ages 3-7
The Ugly Vegetables, Ages 3-7
Bringing in the Chinese New Year, Ages 3-7
The Red Thread, Ages 3-8
At Home in This World by Jean Macleod.
“I am nine years old and someone a lot like you. Part of
my life has been like a puzzle needing pieces, but I amunderstanding more about myself and my life
everyday. This is my story..." So begins the honest, lyrical reflection of a pre-adolescent girl on
what she knows of her adoption from China, and the strength she gains from her acceptance of her
bittersweet experience. The book addresses the underlying feelings and emotions that color the
world of the China adoptee. At Home in This World effectively describes and empowers a young girl
looking for acknowledgement, empathy and emotional validation. It also enables pre-teen readers
to put their early lives into perspective, while emphasizing the supportive love that encircles them
within their own families.
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Three Names of Me by Mary Cumming and Lin Wang.
Ada has three names. Wang Bin is what the
caregivers called her at her Chinese orphanage. Ada is the name her American parents gave her.
And there is a third name, a name the infant Ada only heard whispered by her Chinese mother.
Ages 2-5.
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Ruby’s Wish by Shirin Yim.
Ruby is unlike most little girls in old China. Instead of aspiring to get
married, Ruby is determined to attend university when she grows up, just like the boys in her
family. Based upon the inspirational story of the author's grandmother and accompanied by richly
detailed illustrations, Ruby's Wish is an engaging portrait of a young girl who strives for more and a
family who rewards her hard work and courage. Ages 2 and up.
Adoption Related Books & Resources for Parents
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52 Ways to Talk About Adoption - Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is pleased
to present 52 Ways to Talk About Adoption, a unique card game for adoptive families. Created by
our adoption-competent staff, whose motto is “Talking is good for everyone”, this game encourages
family discussion of adoption in a playful and interesting way. We hope that you talk, talk, and talk
some more while having fun!
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Beyond Consequences, Logic and Contol – by Heather Forbes, LCSW, Beyond Consequences,
Logic, and Control covers in detail the effects of trauma on the body-mind and how trauma alters
children's behavioral responses. The first four chapters help parents and professionals clearly
understand the neurological research behind the basic model given in this book, deemed, 'The
Stress Model.' While scientifically based in research, it is written in an easy to understand and easy
to grasp format for anyone working with or parenting children with severe behaviors. The next
seven chapters are individually devoted to seven behaviors typically seen with attachmentchallenged children. These include lying, stealing, hoarding and gorging, aggression, defiance, lack
of eye contact, and yes, even a chapter that talks candidly about how parents appear hostile and
angry when they work to simply maintain their families from reaching complete states of chaos.
Each of these chapters talks in depth on these specific behaviors and gives vivid and contrasting
examples of how this love-based approach works to foster healing and works to develop
relationships, as opposed to the fear-based traditional attachment parenting approaches that are
being advocated in today's attachment field. The authors end with a Parenting Bonus Section: true
testimonials from parents who have been able to make significant changes in their homes with this
model of parenting, giving real-life examples of how they have been able to find the healing, peace,
and love that they had been seeking prior to working through the techniques outlined in this book.
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Real Parents, Real Children, Parenting the Adopted Child by Holly van Gulden.
Required reading
for adoptive families, those considering adoption, or professionals in the field. This practical,
informative book covers topics of vital importance to adoptive parents with sensitivity and insight.
The authors bring years of experience to the complex emotional issues that parents will negotiate,
and expert advice on establishing a healthy, loving parent-child relationship.
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Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents by Deborah Gray.
Attaching in
Adoption is a comprehensive guide for prospective and actual adoptive parents on how to
understand and care for their adopted child and promote healthy attachment. This classic text
provides practical parenting strategies designed to enhance children's happiness and emotional
health. It explains what attachment is, how grief and trauma can affect children's emotional
development, and how to improve attachment, respect, cooperation and trust. Parenting techniques
are matched to children's emotional needs and stages, and checklists are included to help parents
assess how their child is doing at each developmental stage. The book covers a wide range of issues
including international adoption, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and learning disabilities, and
combines sound theory and direct advice with case examples throughout.
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Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience After Trauma and Neglect by Deborah Gray.
Adopted
children who have suffered trauma and neglect have structural brain change, as well as specific
developmental and emotional needs. They need particular care to build attachment and overcome
trauma. This book provides professionals with the knowledge and advice they need to help adoptive
families build positive relationships and help children heal. It explains how neglect, trauma and
prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol affect brain and emotional development, and explains how to
recognize these effects and attachment issues in children. It also provides ways to help children
settle into new families and home and school approaches that encourage children to flourish. The
book also includes practical resources such as checklists, questionnaires, assessments and tools for
professionals including social workers, child welfare workers and mental health workers
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Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherry Eldridge.
The voices
of adopted children are poignant, questioning. And they tell a familiar story of loss, fear, and hope.
This extraordinary book, written by a woman who was adopted herself, gives voice to children's
unspoken concerns, and shows adoptive parents how to free their kids from feelings of fear,
abandonment, and shame.
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Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self by David Brodzinsky. This groundbreaking book
uses the poignant, powerful voices of adoptees and adoptive parents to explore the
experience of adoption and its lifelong effects. A major work, filled with astute
analysis and moving truths.