RECOMMENDED READING (BOOKS AND MAGAZINES)

(By listing these books, we are not endorsing them. However, all of these books have been reviewed by either our staff or our network of trusted sources and have been found to be useful. As a place to start, we have put them in a list for you to form your own opinion. Let us know your thoughts.)

• Adoption Related Books for Parents (or soon-to-be parents)
• Books that Explain Adoption to Kids
• Parenting
• Medical and Psychological
  (Includes Effects of Institutionalization, FAS, RAD, SI etc.)

So, you have an adopted child. You've told him all along that he is adopted. (This is very important!) You've told him his story over and over.
As he ages, he has a different grasp on the facts of his adoption. More of his story starts to make sense as he grows and as he, himself, has more life experiences. Below are some adoption books for you to look into that might help you explain the delicate details of his past.

Adoption Related Books for Parents (or soon-to-be parents)
Our Own: Adopting and Parenting the Older Child by Trish Maskew
Stories that bridge the big gap between the fantasy of adoption and its reality.

LifeBooks : Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child by Beth O'Malley
Give your child a sense of history. Here is a step by step guide.

Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge
In an attempt to inform adoptive parents of the unique issues adoptees face, she discusses adoptee anger, mourning, and shame and adoption acknowledgment while using case studies to illustrate how parents can better relate to their adopted child.

You Can Afford Adoption by Heaton and Hunt
Strategies and guides to gathering and raise the money you need to bring your child home.

Recommend Other Books for Our List

Books that Explain Adoption to Kids
Is That Your Sister?: A True Story of Adoption  Bunin (multiracial)
I Miss My Foster Parents    Herbert

Pre-K
A Family for Jamie : AN ADOPTION STORY  Bloom
Pablo's Tree Mora (a yearly celebration)
The Day We Met You Koehler (poetic)
All About Me Burwash and McMullin (written by two adoptive mothers)

Grades 1-3
Did My First Mother Love Me?: A Story for an Adopted Child   Miller (domestic adoption)
Adoption Stories for Young Children    Hicks (a birth mother makes an adoption plan)
Adoption Is for Always   Girard (dealing with confusion and anger regarding adoption)
Being Adopted  Herbert  (a seven year old girl talks about being adopted)
Chinese Eyes   Waybill (international adoption)
Let's Talk About It: Adoption Rogers (written by Mr. Rogers of television)
I Feel Different: A Book About Being Adopted  Stinson
Why Was I Adopted? Livingston (recommended by several adoptees who had it read to them as a child and
kept it to read to themselves when they were in upper elementary)

Grades 4-9 
*Borya and the Burps: An Eastern European Adoption Story McNamara (from the child's perspective)
How It Feels to Be Adopted   Krementz (Pieces written by adopted kids ages 8-16 - Click on the link to read some excerpts)
*Jack's New Family Thompson (adjustment - An eight year old Russian boy is adopted by American parents, also written in Russian.)
*Lucy's Family Tree Schreck (The adopted child dilemma...what to do about that family tree assignment in school.)
Me and My Name   Miller (stepparent adoption)
Mystery at Witch Creek    Crawford (fiction mystery - single parent adoption, foster/adopt)
Second Choices   Brinkerhoff (teenage birthmother side of an adoption story)
What My Sister Remembered   Sachs (sisters adopted by different parents meet again)
*When I Met You: A Story of Russian Adoption Bashista (a balance of a child's memories of Russian culture with new experiences in America, celebrating both cultures)

Grades 10-12
Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye Lowry (an adoption search)
Someone to Love    Lantz (a teenager gets an adopted sibling and befriends a teenager who is pregnant)
Who Am I?: And Other Questions of Adopted Kids   Giannetti (Explanations of natural feelings and curiosities about being adopted - Click on the link to read some excerpts)

See other lists:
Reading List for Preschool to Age 8 (PDF)
Read and Discuss Books

Excellent Basic Parenting Books
Parenting With Love and Logic : Teaching Children Responsibility by Foster W. Cline, Jim Fay
"Love and Logic" parents teach their children responsibility and the logic of life by solving their own problems, providing skills for coping in the real world 
The Sequels (Follow the link above for these titles too.)
Parenting Teens With Love & Logic
Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood

Parenting From the Inside Out by Daniel Siegel, Mary Hartzell
In Parenting from the Inside Out, explore the extent to which our childhood experiences actually shape the way that we parent. This book presents a unique perspective on the ""art and science"" of building nurturing relationships with our children.

Medical and Psychological Possibilities Related to Institutionalization Books
(Don't be naive, Be prepared! Parenting isn't easy, it's simply the most rewarding thing around!)

• Post Institutionalization (Including post foster care issues)
• Attachment (Includes Reative Attachment Disorder)
• Sensory Integration Dysfunction
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Includes FAS and FAE)
  

  Post Institutionalization Issues (Includes issues after being in foster care)
  Help for the Hopeless Child: A Guide for Families   by Ronald S. Federici
  A Guide for Families (with Special Discussion for Assessing and Treating the Post-Institutionalized Child) has expanded text and updated adoption figures, intensive family treatment program and multi-discipline interventions. Additional discussion regarding more complex child developmental disorders.
  
  Parenting the Hurt Child : Helping Adoptive Families Heal and Grow by Gregory Keck, Regina M. Kupecky
  explore how parents can help adopted or foster children who have suffered neglect or abuse.

  Adopting the Hurt Child: Hope for Families With Special-Needs Kids : A Guide for Parents and Professionals by Gregory C. Keck, Regina M. Kupecky
  Adopting the Hurt Child explains how trauma and interruptions affect these children's normal development and often severely undermine their capacity to function in a loving family and in society. This is a guide to help these children make sense of their past and build a better future.

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  Attachment
  (Books for parents)
  Building the Bonds of Attachment : Awakening Love in Deeply Troubled Children by Daniel A. Hughes
  Look through the eyes of the child.

  Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents by Deborah D. Gray
  Along with technical explanations of challenges such as self-esteem, childhood grief, and limit-testing, the book includes a tremendous number of personal vignettes illustrating attachment-related situations.
  
  When Love is Not Enough : A Guide to Parenting Children with RAD - Reactive Attachment Disorder by Nancy L. Thomas
  Strategies to change serious behaviors while maintaining the dignity and integrity of the child.
  
  (Books for children)
  The Forever Child: A Tale (series)
  These books are made for kids who struggle with attachment issues.
  The Forever Child: A Tale of Lies and Love by Nancy A. Clark, Bryan Post
  The Forever Child: A Tale of Anger and Fear by Nancy A. Clark, B. Bryan Post
  The Forever Child: A Tale of Loss and Impossible Dreams by B. Bryan Post; Nancy A. Clark

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Sensory Integration Dysfunction Books
The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction by Carol Stock Kranowitz
Do you know a child who plays too rough, is uncoordinated, hates being touched, is ultra-sensitive (or unusually insensitive) to noise or sensations of heat and cold? Many pediatricians and other experts are beginning to recognize a link between some of these apparently unrelated behavior patterns. Children with perfectly normal "far senses" (such as sight and hearing) may have, because of a poorly integrated nervous system, serious problems with their "near senses," including touch, balance, and internal muscle sensation. It's called Sensory Integration Dysfunction, or SI.

Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues  by Lindsey Biel, Nancy Peske
Info and helpful resources from where to find SI products, to help with IEPs,on line support groups and how to help a teen with SI issues.

Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight : What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World by Sharon Heller
The book includes four sections-the first two focus on an overview of the condition, and the second two examine treatment, including diet, medication and relaxation techniques. Useful appendices list alternative treatments and resources.

Sensory Secrets: How to Jump-Start Learning in Children by Catherine Schneider
This book is great for an intro into sensory issues and it helps you to evaluate your own child and explains how certain holes in the learning foundation could quickly lead to learning diviculties later on in life

Building Bridges through Sensory Integration, Second Edition by Ellen Yack
This book is full of ideas you can try and therapeutic activities you can do with minimal equipment and expense. The emphasis is on fun, and tailoring the program to your child's preferences and needs.

Workbooks
The Out-of-Sync Child has fun (activity workbook) by Carol Stock Kranowitz, T.J. Wylie
This companion volume to The Out-of-Sync Child presents activities that parents of kids with Sensory Integration Dysfunction can do at home with their child to strengthen their child's abilities-and have some fun together along the way.

Answers to Questions Teachers Ask About Sensory Integration by Kranowitz, Sava, Haber, Balzer-Martin, Szklut
Extensive and easy-to-use checklists and other tools that are invaluable to every teacher and parent who has children with sensory integration challenges.

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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Includes Syndrome and Effect) Books
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A Guide for Families and Communities by Ann Pytkowicz Streissguth
Excellent explanation of FAS and FAE with real life examples of living with these preventable disorders.

Damaged Angels: An Adoptive Mother's Struggle to Understand the Tragic Toll of Alcohol in Pregnancy by Bonnie Buxton
Part heartfelt memoir, part practical guide, Damaged Angels recounts Bonnie Buxton's struggles to raise an adopted daughter whom she didn't realize was afflicted with fetal alcohol disorder. Her book also offers guidance to parents who have children with FASD.

The Best I Can Be: Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome-Effects by Liz and Jodee Kulp
This is a well written account from a child and parent regarding the reality of living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effects. this is their journey together, from both of their perspectives, in living with these disabilities. Not only is this an important internalization for the practitioner but an important tool for parents and family to work through the acceptance of the profound life altering condition this birth defect manifests.