Tapestry Reading List
Books for Adults
General
A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents, edited by Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe (Comment: A diverse collection of stories that cover many different facets and perspectives of adoption)
A Treasury of Adoption Miracles, Karen Kingsbury
Adoption is a Family Affair! – What Friends and Family Must Know, Patricia Irwin Johnston (Comment: An excellent and unique adoption resource for educating and preparing and family and friends)
Before You Were Mine: Discovering Your Adopted Child’s Lifestory, Susan TeBos and Carissa Woodwyk
Carried Safely Home, Kristin Swick Wong
“Parenting Is Your Highest Calling” And 8 Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt, Leslie Leyland Fields (Comment: Not an adoption/foster care book, but a must read for all parents to better understand what Scripture does (and does not) teach about parenting)
Raising Adopted Children, Lois Ruskai Melina (Comment: Practical advice on a wide range of adoption topics)
Real Parents, Real Children: Parenting the Adopted Child, Holly Van Gulden and Lisa M. Bartels-Rabb (Comment: Detailed information regarding the various developmental stages of adopted children)
Secret Thoughts of An Adoptive Mother, Jana Wolff (Comment: A very honest account by one adoptive mother, but may be off-putting to some readers)
The Essential Adoption Handbook, Colleen Alexander-Roberts
The Power of a Positive Mom, Karol Ladd (Comment: While not an “adoption book,” this book contains valuable insights for all moms and moms-to-be.)
The Waiting Child, Cindy Champnella
The Whole Life Adoption Book, Jayne Schooler
There is No Me Without You, Melissa Fay Greene
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew, Sherrie Eldridge
Attachment & Related Topics
Anatomy of the Soul, Curt Thompson
Attaching in Adoption, Deborah D. Gray
Nurturing Adoptions, Deborah Gray (Comment: An excellent book for parents adopting children with a history of trauma or abuse)
Parenting from the Inside Out, Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell (Comment: While this is not a Christian book, it offers important understanding and insights into what parents bring to the relationship with their children)
The Connected Child, Karyn B. Purvis, David R. Cross and Wendy Lyons Sunshine (Comment: Written by a research team (Purvis and Cross, who lead the Institute of Child Development at TCU), this book is a must read for every adoptive and foster parent)
Toddler Adoption: The Weaver’s Craft, Mary Hopkins-Best (Comment: One of the better books available dealing specifically with toddler adoption)
Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact Adoptive and Foster Families, Jayne Schooler, Betsy Keefer Smalley and Timothy J. Callahan (Comment: An excellent book for both parents and professionals; contains one of the best chapters (Chapter 2) on the importance of parental expectations)
Race & Culture
Cross-Cultural Adoption: How to Answer Questions from Family, Friends and Community, Amy Coughlin & Caryn Abramowitz
I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla, Marguerite Wright (Comment: An excellent book about race and how (and when) kids understand various concepts about race. A must-read for all transracial families.)
In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories, Rita J. Simon & Rhonda M. Roorda
Inside Transracial Adoption, Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall (Comment: Helpful overview of the issues facing families who have adopted transracially)
Open Adoption
Dear Birthmother, Kathleen Silber & Phylis Speedlin
Life Givers, James Gritter (Comment: An excellent book that looks at adoption from the birth parent’s experience)
The Open Adoption Experience, Lois Ruskai Melina & Sharon Kaplan Roszia
Talking with Children About Adoption/Foster Care
Talking with Young Children About Adoption, Mary Watkins and Susan Fisher
Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child, Betsy Keefer and Jayne E. Schooler (Comment: An excellent resource to help parents talk with their children about adoption and their history, in particular the difficult and painful aspects of their history)
Theological
Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child, Dr. Karyn Purvis and Michael & Amy Monroe (Comment: A study guide written as a companion resource for The Connected Child; available for free download at www.empoweredtoconnect.org.)
Fields of the Fatherless, C. Thomas Davis (Comment: An insightful and challenging book that reminds us of God’s heart for the least among us.)
Free of Charge, Miroslav Volf (Comment: Not an “adoption book,” although an excellent book about grace and giving. Volf is an adoptive father and writes poignantly about his adoption experience in the opening chapter. An excellent read.)
Secure in God’s Embrace, Ken Fong (Comment: A wonderful little book that looks at God’s love through the lens of the biblical theme of adoption)
The Spirit of Adoption, Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner (Comment: Written by an academic theologian, this book is filled with inspiring personal stories and unique insights into the theological implications and parallels of adoption; somewhat academic in its overall approach.)
Sensory Processing
The Out-of-Sync Child, Carol S. Kranowitz (Comment: Excellent resource to help parents identify and deal with sensory processing issues.)
The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Carol S. Kranowitz (Comment: Good book full of practical ideas to help children with sensory processing issues/disorder.)
I Love You Rituals, Becky Bailey
Books for Children
A Blessing from Above, Patti Henderson
A is for Adopted, Eileen Tucker Cosby
A Mother for Choco, Keiko Kasza
Adoption is for Always, Linda Walvoord Girard
Adoption Stories for Young Children, Randall B. Hicks
All Kinds of Children, Norma Simon
Come Along Daisy, Jane Simmons
Daisy and the Egg, Jane Simmons
Family Day: Celebrating Ethan’s Adoption Anniversary, Christine Mitchell
Families are Forever, Craig Shemin
Families Change (A book for children experiencing termination of parental rights) – Julie
Nelson
God Found Us You, Lisa Tawn Bergren
I Don’t Have Your Eyes, Carrie A. Kitze
I Wished for You, Marianne Richmond
It’s OK to Be Different, Todd Parr
Little Miss Spider, David Kirk
Love You Forever, Robert Munsch
Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care, Jennifer Wilgocki
Murphy’s Three Homes (A Story for Children in Foster Care), Jan Levinson Gilman
My Adopted Child, There’s No One Like You, Kevin Leman
My Special Family: A Children’s Book About Open Adoption, Kathleen Silber and Debra
Marks Parelskin
Over the Moon, Karen Katz
Rosie’s Family, Lori Rosove
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, Jamie Lee Curtis
The Day We Met You, Phoebe Koehler
The Mulberry Bird (Revised Edition), Anne Brodzinsky
The Skin You Live In, Michael Tyler
The Star (A Story to Help Young Children Understand Foster Care), Cynthia Miller
Lovell
The Whole Me, Ellen K. Baron
The Wonderful Ways Babies Are Made, Larry Christenson
Twice Upon A Time, Eleanora Patterson
Shaoey and Dot: Bug Meets Bundle, Mary Beth and Stephen Curtis Chapman
We Wanted You, Liz Rosenberg and Peter Catalanotto
Welcome Home, Forever Child: A Celebration of Children Adopted as Toddlers,
Preschoolers, and Beyond, Christine Mitchell
We’re Different, We’re the Same, Bobbi Jane Kates
When You Were Born in Korea, Brian Boyd
W.I.S.E. Up Powerbook (For Children Who Were Adopted), The Center for Adoption Support and Education (www.adoptionsupport.org) (Comment: An excellent resource to help empower your kids to know and be able to answer (or not answer) questions about their family and their adoption. Highly recommended for all adoptive families with school-age children.)
W.I.S.E. Up Powerbook (For Children in Foster Care), The Center for Adoption Support and Education (www.adoptionsupport.org) (Comment: Similar to the original W.I.S.E Up Powerbook for children who were adopted, this resource is a great way to help talk with and empower children in foster care to better understand, accept and handle their story.)
Magazines
- Adoptive Families Magazine (www.adoptivefamilies.com)
- Adoption Today (www.adoptiontoday.com)
- Fostering Families Today (www.fosteringfamiliestoday.com)
Internet Sites
- www.empoweredtoconnect.org – an excellent site filled with free video, audio and written resources by Dr. Karyn Purvis and others
- www.child.tcu.edu – TCU’s Institute of Child Development, a research institute led by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross (authors of The Connected Child), that focuses on the needs of adopted and at-risk children as well as successful parenting strategies to help them heal and thrive
- www.adoptionsupport.org – The Center for Adoption Support and Education (CASE)
- www.adoptivedads.org – adoption and foster care website specifically for dads and dads-to-be
- www.adoptivefamilies.com/foster – a wide variety of articles and stories about foster care and families adopting from foster care
- www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/index.cfm – (formerly known as the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse) a U.S. government website that provides a variety of general information on all aspects of domestic and intercountry adoption, including adoption from foster care
- www.davethomasfoundationforadoption.org – adoption information and resources provided by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, focusing specifically on adoptions of children in America’s foster care system
- www.howtoadopt.org – an adoption education site sponsored by Show Hope (an adoption organization begun by Mary Beth and Stephen Curtis Chapman)
- www.pactadopt.org – deals exclusively with transracial and transethnic adoption issues; PACT’s adoption book guide, however, is a great resource for virtually every adoption book ever published (including children’s adoption books)
- www.adoptchildren.org – information about foster care and adoption opportunities for children under the care of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services; this site also contains information about hundreds of Texas children who are currently waiting to be adopted
Disclaimer: We trust that these resources will be helpful to you, but obviously neither we nor Irving Bible Church necessarily agree with or endorse every idea and opinion contained in them. We know that you will use your judgment and discernment as you read and consider these and any other adoption and foster care resources. In addition, we are always available to discuss any questions that you might have, so please feel free to contact Amy or Michael Monroe at tapestry@irvingbible.org or (972) 315-9628.
Also Found In: Books etc., Resources for Families