Foster CareIn

Children’s Books

There are many fantastic adoption and foster care books written for children, and they can be a great

way to engage your child in

discussion about his or her story. 

These books cover a wide array of situations, but even if the situation does not match your child’s story they can provide an opportunity to talk and connect.

Adoption & Foster Care Books for Children

http://tapestryministry.org/adoption-foster-care-books-for-children

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.

K-3

By Jennifer Wilgocki and Marcia Kahn Wright

What is a family? -- What are families like? – What is foster care? -- Who are foster parents? – Children living with foster parents – Do you know?

Defines family, discusses what families are like, and explains the work of foster parents.

K-3

By Rebecca Rissman

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. K-3

By Kate Gaynor

Explains why children must sometimes live in foster care, stressing the importance of children and the need for them to be safe.

K-3

By Julie Nelson

Simple words and realistic illustrations explain to children why some kids get new foster parents or new adopted moms or dads, and offers advice on how adults can help children deal with changes in parental rights.

K-3

By Julie Nelson

Simple text and photographs offer an introduction to foster families and describe how family members interact with one another.

From the Publisher: Students explore and understand the meaning of family relationships.

Great books from prompting value-oriented discussions on caring, sharing, and loving.

K-3

By Sarah L. Schuette

My Foster Family is a special children's coloring book that offers young children entering foster care the opportunity to explore their feelings and to adjust to the foster care system. Intended for children age 5-11 who are being placed in foster care for the first time, it provides a gentle and thoughtful description of both the logistical and emotional changes that a young child is likely to face.

Useful at any stage of the foster care placement process, My Foster Family employs the familiar coloring book format as a safe and supportive tool to help children share their deepest fears and concerns upon entering foster care.

By Jennifer Levine

By Beth O’Malley

Designed by an adult adoptee, this 27-page, coil bound lifebook allows you to work quickly as you capture vital information. The animated pages hold the child's interest and is written to complement any permanent goal (i.e.guardianship, return home, adoption)

Affordable and easy to use, this lifebook involves the foster child as much as the adult.

Appropriate for ages 1-8.

A sensitive picture book to help ease the anxieties of foster children aged 4 to 10 entering placement.In A Different Home, Jessie tells us her story of being placed in foster care. At first she is worried and has lots of questions. The new home is not like her old home -- she has a different bedroom, different clothes, and there's different food for breakfast.

She also misses her family. When Jim and Debbie, her foster parents, answer her questions she begins to feel better and see that this different home is kind of nice.

By John and Kelly DeGarmo

Dakota, rescued from a puppy mill, is cared for by Emma until she is ready to go live with a little girl who is trying to recover from a serious illness.

K-3

By Jan Zita Grover and Nancy Lane

A dog describes the emotional ups and downs of being in multiple foster homes and living in unfamiliar surroundings. Includes note to parents.

K-3

By Jan Levinson Gilman

A young bear cub, who is alone in the world, and Old Bear, who is grumpy and tired of living alone, meet and discover what they have been missing.

From the Publisher:A darling companion to Old Bear and His Cub

K-3

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.

Preschool – Grade 3

By Geraldine M. BlomquistAnd Paul B. Blomquist

The first children's book about abandonment with a father and son as the central characters, this book shows the confusion and agony of a little boy whose mother has disappeared. It also shows how his father recognizes that the boy's actions demonstrate his fear and sorrow. Intended for children who never or seldom see their parents, and for the adults in these children's lives, the custodial parents, the foster and adoptive parents, the grandparents and legal guardians. Helps adults to recognize and address the fear of abandonment when they respond to children's questions and behavior.

Grades K-3

By Mary Kilgore

Twelve-year-old Katie is miserable when her father accepts a job thatforces the family to move to the Yukon, a situation made worse for her when her parents decide to take in a six-year-old foster child, Siggi, but Katie makes a remarkable discovery when she learns that her pony, an Icelandic horse named Peggy, can fly and travel through time and space.

Grades 3-6

Sky Pony

Elaine Hammond

By Elaine Breault Hammond

Publishers Weekly (September 6, 2004)

"This quietly affecting novel explores the fragile camaraderie between two 11-year-old girls who are placed in a children's home," wrote PW, calling it "a celebration of friendship and of the healing powers of the imagination."

Ages 10-14. By Frances O’Roark Dowell

By Theresa Ann Fraser Grades 3-6

Child Protection Services have been involved with Billy and his mother for some time now. He has been happily settled in a kinship placement with his grandmother and enjoys his pet cat, interacting with neighbors and even taking piano lessons. As the story unfolds, Billy's grandmother has unexpectedly passed away and so the story of Billy Had To Move begins.Unfortunately, Billy's mother cannot be located. Mr. Murphy, Billy's social worker, places him in the foster home of Amy, Tim, and their baby "Colly." Billy experiences great loss resulting not only from his grandmother's death, but also the loss of the life he knew. Billy's inner journey therefore has also begun and with the help of Ms. Woods, a Play Therapist, there is hope.

Foster child Min Randall has never felt accepted by the families that have taken her in, and when her latest foster mother returns her to the social worker just before Christmas, Min fears her holiday will be ruined, until a kind doctor takes her home for the holiday and teaches Min about the true meaning of Christmas and love.

Grades 3-6

By Jean Little

The activities in Creek Stompin’ are all specifically designed to foster one or more youth development outcomes that promote healthy development of young people.

Children need to learn certain lessons, develop certain skills, and have opportunities to practice them in order to thrive and succeed in our world.

By Mary Low

A foster child named Angel and twelve-year-old Stella, who are living with Stella's great-aunt Louise at the Linger Longer Cottage Colony on Cape Cod, secretly assume responsibility for the vacation rentals when Louise unexpectedly dies and the girls are afraid of being returned to the foster care system.

Grades 3-6

By Sara Penny Packer

The state of Maine plans to shut down her island's schoolhouse, which would force Tess's family to move to the mainland--and Tess to leave the only home she has ever known.

Fortunately, the islanders have a plan too: increase the numbers of students by having several families take in foster children.

So now Tess and her family are taking a chance on Aaron, a thirteen-year-old trumpet player who has been bounced from home to home. And Tess needs a plan of her own--and all the luck she can muster.

Grades 3-6

By Cynthia Lord

Ten-year-old Tracy, who lives in a children's home because her mother was forced to give her up, dreams of getting a good foster family where she can be happy until her mother comes back for her.

Grades 3-6

By Jacqueline Wilson

Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again.

But against her will and her better judgment, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own Iives.

Grades 3-6By Betsy Byars

Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's disliked them all. She has a county-wide reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanageable. So when she's sent to live with the Trotters -- by far the strangest family yet -- Gilly decides to put her sharp mind to work.

Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come rescue her.But the rescue doesn't work out, and the great Gilly Hopkins is left thinking that maybe life with the Trotters wasn't so bad ...

Grades 5-8By Katherine Paterson

Over half a million children in the United States are in foster care. Some of them have been removed from their parents because of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Some of their parents have died or been put into prison. When foster parents take in these children, they become part of a family.

Sometimes this family has nearly as many problems as the child's original family, but sometimes it can be a place where the child learns about love and belonging.

Grades 5-8

By Julianna Fields

Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided.

This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household.

Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future.

Grades 5-8

By Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Jake and his sister Shoshona have been under foster care since their single mother was arrested for possession and trafficking three years before.

Both have found their own ways to cope: Shoshona has become a bossy mother figure; Jake, who is a budding comic book artist, has created an alter ego named Jakeman.

And unbeknownst to his sister, Jake continues his one-man letter-writing campaign to the Governor, pleading for clemency for their mom.

Grades 5-8By Deborah Ellis

Shares a story about Mickey, a young girl in the foster care system who becomes upset when she and her little brother are sent to different homes, and provides information about why children go into foster care, what happens in foster care, how people become foster parents, and how kids leave foster care.

From the Publisher: Discusses the issues and problems children face in the foster care system.

Diversity In

Children’s Books

When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part. Our classrooms need to be places where all the children from all the cultures that make up the salad bowl of American society can find their mirrors.

Reading is Fundamentalhttp://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/multicultural/mirrors-windows-and-sliding-glass-doors.htm

There are a number of books out there about family diversity, but this one is told by a young adopted Korean girl who sometimes feels different and sad, so the entry to the tale is TRA specific.

Nico's mom points out all the different families in her school class: multiracial families, monoracial families who look alike, and monoracial families who do not look alike; families led by single mom, single dads, grandparents, and divorced parents; blended families and adoptive families.

Transracial Adoptive/Foster Families

By Nina Pellegrini

Is there such a thing as a "normal" family?Is one familybetter than another?

Of course the answer to these questions is no, but children are often lead to believe otherwise. Young people need to understand and appreciate that when it comes to families, they are all different!

K-3

Family connections are vitally important to children as they begin to find their place in the world.

For trans-racial and trans-cultural adoptees, domestic adoptees, and for children in foster care or kinship placements, celebrating the differences within their families as well as the similarities that connect them, is the foundation for belonging.

As parents or caregivers, we can strengthen our children’s tie to family and embrace the differences that make them unique.

K-3

By Carrie A. Kitze

Yoon's name means Shining Wisdom, and when she writes it in Korean, it looks happy, like dancing figures.

But her father tells her that she must learn to write it in English. In English, all the lines and circles stand alone, which is just how Yoon feels in the United States.

Yoon isn't sure that she wants to be YOON. At her new school, she tries out different names – maybe CAT or BIRD. Maybe CUPCAKE!

K-3

By Helen Recorvits

Although she really would have liked a jump rope for her birthday, Yoon is happy to receive a Korean picture book and a jade bracelet passed down from her grandmother; and when she wears the bracelet to school it seems as if her wish for a jump rope and a friend is about to come true.

K-3

By Helen Recorvits

Sangoel, who is proud of his rich African heritage, moves to America, and when nobody there can pronounce his name correctly, he fears he will lose his identity.

As a refugee from Sudan to the United States, Sangoel is frustrated that no one can pronounce his name correctly until he finds a clever way to solve the problem.K-3

By Karen Lynn Williams

Through rhyming stories, the author deals sensitively with the topics of divorce, adoption, bereavement and bullying, reassuring young readers that emotions they may be experiencing are ‘normal' and shared by others.

Grades K-3

By Annette Aubrey

Mo, a little bear, wants nothing more than to be adopted by a real family, and one day a man and woman buy him and take him to meet his new friend, Yuri.

A mother talks to her child about what life was like before the child was adopted from Russia, and what life is like now. Grades K-3

By Adrienne EhlertBashista

A mother describes her daughter's life before and after she was adopted from Russia.K-3By Adrienne Ehlert Bashista

In this new edition of a classic in adoption literature, Mother Bird rises to meet the challenges of bringing up her baby bird against all odds and elements.

When a storm scatters her nest, she is forced to think about how best to care for her precious baby bird, and faces the heart-breaking choice of either continuing to struggle on her own, or giving her baby to another family of birds, to look after him and care for him in their strong, secure nest.

K-3By Anne Braff Brodzinsky

Davey is dubious about having a new adopted brother from Korea, but when he finds out that his parents still love him, he decides that having a baby brother will be fine.

K-3

By Eve Bunting

While You Were Sleeping lovingly describes two women learning they will adopt a newborn boy. It speaks to the hearts of all who cherish children while validating non-traditional families.

Preschool – 3

By Stephanie Burks

Some families look alike, some don't. Some families are formed through birth, and some families are formed by adoption. But as the little girl in this heartwarming book makes clear, being a family isn't about who you look like or where you were born--it's about the love that binds you together.

Adoptive families are sure to delight in the special story of the narrator's adoption--from her parents' excited preparations and long journey by airplane to meet her, to their life together as a family.

K-3By Nancy Carlson

This is a story of a couple who take an airplane trip to adopt a baby girl.

“An ebullient tribute for families whose members may have come from a faraway place."

Ages 2-8

By Karen Katz

This story of a woman who travels to China to adopt a baby girl, based on the author's own experiences, is a celebration of the love and joy a baby brings into the home.

Preschool

By Rose Lewis

In I Love You Like Crazy Cakes, Rose Lewis and Jane Dyer told the heartfelt story of one woman's adoption a baby girl from China. These sentiments are brought to life again in this touching portrait of birthday celebrations and unforgettable moments between a mother and her little girl: from joyous hugs for a new puppy, to quiet nights gazing at the stars remembering a faraway family. Capturing the richness of both Chinese and American cultures, Every Year on Your Birthday is a poignant tribute to the growing bond of love only a parent and child can know.K-3

By Rose Lewis

An abandoned Chinese baby who has been befriended by a ladybug finds her way to an orphanage where she is eventually adopted by an American family.

Preschool – Grade 3

By Mary Beth & Steven Curtis Chapman

This is the story of one baby's journey from her birth parents in China, who dream of a better life for their daughter, to her adoptive parents on the other side of the world, who dream of the life they can give her.

Grades K-3

By Karen Henry Clark

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!

Using their own family's story as a model, Darlene Friedman and Roger Roth celebrate the love of families everywhere through this straightforward and insightful book.

K-3By Darlene Friedman

When Allison realizes that she looks more like her favorite doll than like her parents, she comes to terms with this unwelcomed discovery through the help of a stray cat.

K-3

Allen Say

Follow a little girl as she and her family prepare for the new baby that will soon be joining them. And simultaneously, watch the girl's mother fly off to Korea, meet the new baby, and bring her home. Here is an utterly simple, sweet, and child-centric look at the adoption process through the eyes of a soon-to-be older sibling. Preschool By Yumi Heo

Emma, upset that she does not look like anyone else in her family, is consoled when her grandmother tells her once again the story of how her mother and father adopted her from China and brought her to live with them in Canada.

From the Publisher: When Emma sets out to make a cookie family with her Grandma, the happy afternoon suddenly turns sad. The cookies are meant to look like her family, but hers is the only one with licorice hair and eyes. She doesn't look like the others; does that mean she doesn't belong?K-3By Deborah Hodge

This book takes one element of The Great Big Book of Families — the arrival of new members into a family — and explores all the different ways a baby or child can become part of the clan, including natural birth within a nuclear family, adoption, fostering, same-sex parents, and many other aspects of bringing babies or children home.By Mary Hoffman

Join Nellie and Gus and their family — plus all manner of other families — for a day at the zoo, where they see animal families galore! To top off their day, Nellie and Gus invite friends and relatives for a fun dinner at home.

Accessible, humorous, and full of charming illustrations depicting families of many configurations, this engaging story interweaves conversations between the siblings and a matter-of-fact text, making it clear to every child that whoever makes up your family, it is perfectly normal — and totally wonderful.

K-3

By Robie H. Harris

Klein introduces beginning readers to Max and his diverse group of friends.

In Adoption Day Party, the boy helps his friend Jose celebrate the day he was adopted. Next, he participates in Lily's special holiday. In Sign Language, Max learns to communicate with his friend Susan, who is deaf.

K-3

By Adria F.Klein

The adoptive mother of four-year-old Laura Shu-Mei tells the little girl the story of how she came to be adopted from China and brought to America to live with her new family.

K-3

By Frances M. Koh

By Christian Kyllonen and others

"Mommy's Heart Went POP!" is a children's book that brings the beauty of international adoption to the entire family through a simple story of love for a child. It includes rich illustrations depicting a universal journey and resources for families exploring their own adoption journey.

Eight-year-old Arun waits impatiently while international adoption paperwork is completed so that he can meet his new baby sister from India.

K-3

By Uma Krishmaswami

Favorite daughterAllen say

A father helps his daughter find pride and inspiration in this masterful picture book.Yuriko hates her name when the children make fun of it and call her "Eureka!" Though she is half Japanese, the teasing makes her want to hide, to retreat even from the art projects she used to love.

K-3

By Allen Say

Two parents describe their journey over land and sea to find the child that belongs in their family, as well as all of the joy and love the new baby brings.

From the Publisher: Driven by love, nourished by hope, and sustained by faith, thousands of families adopt children internationally. A unique opportunity for every reader to take part in an intimate family journey and to witness the shared joy of relatives and friends upon a homecoming.

K-3 By Steven L. Layne

Megan is adopted, but she and her parents keep in touch with her birth mother, Kendra. Every year, Kendra decorates the tree she planted when Megan was born. Megan cherishes this Birthday Tree, for it ties her and Kendra together.K-3By Laurie Lears

A story inspired by Chinese legend, in which a king and queen in a lovely, peaceful land feel a tug at their hearts, pulling them closer to a child they are destined to love.

From the Publisher: 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.

K-3

By Grace Lin

Emma finds out how hard it is to be a big sister when her family adopts a four-year-old boy named Max.

K-3

By Jean Little

Carlotta anxiously awaits the arrival of her new family. What will they be like? She imagines all kinds of wonderful families;astronauts, pastry chefs, even pirates. How nice to find out that they are the best family in the world.

When Soo Min comes from Korea to live with her new American family, she struggles to learn English and adjust to unfamiliar surroundings. She finds great comfort in the family's cat, Goyangi - that is, until he runs away.

After searching the streets with her mother, Soo Min discovers her beloved pet has returned to the house, and speaks her first English word - "Goyangi home." This gentle story reveals that home is truly where the heart is.K-3By Christine McDonnell

A young girl who was born in Russia and adopted by Americans describes how her parents help her learn about her Russian heritage and what it means to be a family.

Includes activities and information about adoption as well as tips for talking to children about adoption.

K-3By Jennifer Moore-Mallinos

Adoption among Inuit families—known as Inuit custom adoption—is a unique and age-old practice that sees families within Nunavut placing children with adoptive parents in the community as they see fit.

Nala's Magical Mitsiaq tells the story of how Nala and Qiatsuk became sisters through Inuit custom adoption. K-3

By Jennifer Joah and Qin Leng

A young girl adopted from China becomes upset when her big sister tells her she was "made in China" just like the labels that appear on items around the house, but her father explains how she came to be part of their family and how much she is loved.

K-3By Vanita Oelschlager

Elizabeth, who was born in China, describes the family who has adopted her and tries to sort out her feelings for her unknown mother.

From the Publisher: Young Elizabeth feels a range of emotions as she learns that she has two mommies: one in China and one in America. Her adoptive mother explains that although her Chinese mother loved Elizabeth and wanted to keep her, she couldn't because of China's laws.K-3By Carol Antoinette Peacock

Last year, Anna learned how to be a good friend. Now that her family has adopted a baby girl from China, she wants to learn how to be a good sister. But the new year proves challenging when the doctor warns that the baby isn't thriving.

Ages 9-12

By Andrea Cheng

After getting caught lying on a school project about who his grandfather was, fourteen-year-old Joseph Calderno is forced to redo the assignment and learns more about his adopted Italian-American family and Korean heritage than he ever thought possible.

Grades 3-6By Rose Kent

Eleven-year-old Jaden is adopted, and he knows he's an "epic fail.' That's why his family is traveling to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby—to replace him, he's sure. And he gets it. He is incapable of stopping his stealing, hoarding, lighting fires, aggressive running, and obsession with electricity. He knows his parents love him, but he feels...nothing.

Ages 10-13By Cynthia Kadohata

Nick Crandall's new foster parents are both professors who know nothing about sports, and his new teammates feel he is too young to play varsity baseball; but Nick is out to prove that he belongs not only to his team, but to his parents as well.

Grades 3-6

By Mike Lupica

Safe at homelupica

Kek, a young Sudanese refugee, is haunted by guilt that he survived. He saw his father and brother killed, and he left his mother behind when he joined his aunt's family in Minnesota. In fast, spare free verse, Applegate gets across the immigrant child's dislocation and loss as he steps off the plane in the snow. He does make silly mistakes, as when he puts his aunt's dishes in the washing machine. But he gets a job caring for an elderly widow's cow that reminds him of his father's herds, and he helps his cousin, who lost a hand in the fighting. He finds kindness in his fifth-grade ESL class, and also racism, and he is astonished at the diversity. The boy's first-person narrative is immediately accessible.

Ages 10-15

By Katherine Applegate

Twelve-year-old Andrew, who has attention deficit disorder, is adopted by new parents after years of other foster homes and desperately hopes that he will not mess up the situation.

Ages 11-13

By George Harrar

Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family -- and the terrible secret -- he left behind.

Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events force him to choose between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom.

Grades 5-8By Ann E. Burg

Wen has spent the first eleven years of her life at an orphanage in rural China, and the only person she would call family is her best friend, Shu Ling. When Wen is adopted by an American couple, she struggles to adjust to every part of her new life: having access to all the food and clothes she could want, going to school, being someone's daughter.

But the hardest part of all is knowing that Shu Ling remains back at the orphanage, alone. Wen knows that her best friend deserves a family and a future, too. But finding a home for Shu Ling isn't easy, and time is running out . . .

Grades 3-6By Carol Peacock

Thirteen-year-old Alex's life changes drastically when his parents decide to adopt a little girl from China.

Grades 5-8

By Julie Armstrong

When her grandmother reveals that the daughter that she had given up for adoption is coming from America to visit her Vietnamese family, nine-year-old Binh is convinced that her newly-discovered aunt is wealthy and will take care of all the family's needs.

Grades 3-6By Carolyn Marsden

Fifteen-year-old Milly Kaufman is an average American teenager until Pablo, a new student at her school, inspires her to search for her birth family in his native country.

Milly Kaufman was adopted from Latin America, and it is a secret she is trying to forget. But when Pablo moves to town, Milly suddenly becomes curious about her birth.

Grades: High School

By Julia Alvarez