Talking with your child about adoption:
Have FAITH in your relationship with your child. You need to have a conviction and a testimony that adoption is not second best or the best you can do – it is the way that God brought children to your family. How your child feels about being adopted begins with you!
Do not take it personally, it is NOT about you!
Make and be OPEN to opportunities to talk about adoption.
Go at your child’s pace.
In order for your child to completely love and accept themselves (birth families, adoptive families and all), WE MUST!
Children’s Books about adoption that we have used:
*How I Was Adopted, by Joanna Cole (**my favorite!)
*Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, by Jamie Lee Curtis
*Happy Adoption Day, by John McCutcheon
*The Day We Met You, by Phoebe Koehler
Other children’s books I searched on Amazon.com that looked good:
*Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children, by Sherrie Eldridge
*I Don’t Have Your Eyes, by Carrie A. Kitze
Books about adoption for parents:
*Talking with Young Children about Adoption, by Mary Watkins and Susan Fisher (*highly recommend*)
*Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew, by Sherrie Eldridge
*For the Love of a Child The Journey of Adoption, by Monica Blume and Gideon Burton
*From God’s Arms to my Arms to Yours, by Michael McLean
Children’s books about race we have used (mostly for African American):
*The Colors of Us, by Karen Katz (**excellent, for any race!)
*Whose Toes Are Those?, by Jabari Asim (good for any race)
*I Love My Hair!, by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
*Shades of Black, by Sandra L. Pinkney
*I’m Like You, You’re Like Me, by Cindy Gainer (understanding differences and seeing our similarities)
Books about race for parents:
*I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World, by Marguerite A. Wright (**excellent!, good for parents, teachers, social workers)
Handout put together by Jessica Lothyan (jlothyan10@hotmail.com) and presented at the Families Supporting Adoption Seattle WA Chapter Adoption Annual Event
