General Adoption Books for School Age Kids
Stories about Adoptive Families for Five to Nine Year Olds
Jun 24, 2009
Books are often the first resource adoptive parents turn to when opening up conversations about adoption with their kids. When children identify with characters and concepts in adoption stories, they see themselves as ‘normal’ and they feel positive about their adoption status.
It is also helpful for friends and family of the adopted child to read these books so they have an understanding of what adoption entails. A great resource to bring into a child’s classroom while doing an adoption talk, general adoption books are also a good introduction on how to use positive adoption language.
Children’s Books for Understanding Adoption
Answering the big questions that adopted children have, these books tackle the basics of how adoption works and why families are made through adoption.
- “A” is for Adopted by Eileen Tucker Cosby [DIR Group Inc., 2000]
- Adoption Stories for Young Children by Randall B. Hicks [Wordslinger Press, 1995]
- All about Adoption by Marc Nemiroff and Jane Annunziata [Magination Press 2003]
- Beginnings: How Families Come to Be by Virginia Kroll and Stacey Schuett [Albert Whitman & Co., 1994]
- How I Was Adopted by Joanna Cole [HarperCollins, 1999]
- Twice-Upon-A-Time by Eleanora Patterson [E.P. Press, 1988]
- What Is Adoption? by Sofie Stergianis and Rita McDowall [Wisdom Press, 2006]
- When I Am Adopted by E. Moore [CreateSpace, 2008]
- Why Was I Adopted? by Carole Livingston [Lyle Stuart, 2000]
Appropriate for reading to younger children, these books introduce kids to words used to describe adoption and highlight the fact that adopted children have two families.
Children’s Books for Dealing with Adoption Issues
Books are a useful tool when addressing complex and often difficult adoption issues. These titles are appropriate for adoptive families to read together when discussing issues such as self-esteem and loss related to adoption.
- Adoption Is for Always by Lina Walvoord Girard [Albert Whitman & Co., 1991]
- Did My First Mother Love Me? by Kathryn Ann Miller [Morning Glory Press 1994]
- Forever Fingerprints by Sherrie Eldridge [EMK, 2007]
- Happy Adoption Day by John McCutcheon [Little, Brown Young Readers, 2001]
- How It Feels to Be Adopted by Jill Krementz [Knopf, 1988]
- I Bet She Called Me Sugar Plum by Joanne V. Gabbin [Franklin Street Gallery Productions, 2004]
- Look Who’s Adopted! by Michael S. Taheri [Western New York Wares Inc., 1997]
- One Wonderful You by Francie Portnoy [Children’s Home Society of North Caroline, 1997]
- Red in the Flower Bed by Andrea Nepa [Tribute Books, 2008]
- The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo [Dial, 2003]
- Two Birthdays for Beth by Gay Lynn Cronin and Joanne Bowring [Perspectives Press, 1995]
These books highlight many of the issues experienced by children adopted internationally, domestically and as well as kids adopted through foster care.
Children’s Books about Adopting Siblings
Adopting a sibling is a life changing experience for a family and can bring up insecurities in both adopted children and kids who joined the family by birth. Written to address these feelings, here are some books specifically about adopting siblings.
- Emma’s Yucky Brother by Jean Little [HarperCollins, 2002]
- Is That Your Sister? by Catherine Bunin & Sherry Bunin [Our Child Press, 1992]
- Jin Woo by Eve Bunting [Clarion Books, 2001]
- Katie-Bo by Iris L. Fisher [Adama Books, 1988]
- Lucy’s Feet by Stephanie Stein [Perspectives Press, 1992]
- Real Sisters by Susan Wright [Gynergy Books, 1995]
- Seeds of Love by Mary Petertyl [Folio One Publishing, 1997]
- Ten Days and Nine Nights by Yumi Heo [Schwartz & Wade, 2009]
- The Boat in the Tree by Tim Wynne Jones [Front Street, 2007]
- Things Little Kids Need to Know by Susan Uhlig [Our Child Press, 2000]
- Waiting for May by Janet Morgan Stoeke [Puffin, 2007]
- William Is My Brother by Jane T. Schnitter [Perspectives Press, 1991]
Books about adoption for school age kids provide information and offer reassurance that being adopted is a normal way of joining a family. By identifying with adopted characters and storylines, five to nine year old kids gain a greater understanding of their own or their siblings’ adoption status.
References
Adoption Clubhouse website
Amazon.com website
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