Families Change: A Book for Children Experiencing Termination of Parental Rights (Kids Are Important)

Excellent for foster and adoptive families of all races

There are so few books on adoption geared at kids who are old enough to remember their birth parents, this really is a good way of introducing the termination of parental rights process to "older" kids. We first met our kids when they were 6 and just turned 8, and they had gone through so many foster homes (8), they didn't know what to think of us, and they kept thinking we would get rid of them. They also were wrapping up visitation with their biological family so it was hard to know what to say about what was happening. This book shows them that they are not the only kids going through this process and helps give them an understanding of what is happening to them in the court system.

I should’ve gotten this book a long time ago! The subtitle made me think it was exclusively to help kids while the transition was happening but it’s great even if the transitions happened years ago to help them understand their story. My 6-year-old has been with us for 4 years now and it very much still applied. When hearing various lines of the book my son said, “Hey, that’s like me!” What a gift!This book really holds space for the negative and positive feelings a child who has undergone family transitions may have.It is child-centered (I’ve gotten other children’s adoption books that are very focused on the new parents’ connection with the child so this was a refreshing addition to our library).It is birth-parent positive.It mentions that the big problems that may have occurred are never the child’s fault.I really think this is a must-have for any child who has had to change homes, regardless of who they end up with permanently. I would even recommend it for children who may have misconceptions about why a child has come or is coming into their family (i.e. a sibling or cousin who is a part of the adopters’ family).I also really appreciate that the tone is somewhat neutral to positive but without disregarding any painful aspects a child might be feeling.Cant say enough good about this book! If you have a child from foster care and your goal is to hold space for them to process their feelings about their past in a healthy way—get this book!

This is a useful book for explaining to kids that it is possible to have mixed emotions about change. Useful when making the transition from foster care to adoption

I really like this book, although I haven't had the chance to read it to my youngest granddaughter yet, whom I'm I'm raising. It's simple and seems to me to touch on the complex feelings that children can have after experiencing traumas.The only negative I see is that on a Kindle some of the fonts towards the back of the book are incredibly small and almost impossible to read, otherwise a 5 star! If there is a printed version, I would much rather purchase that. All in all, a very helpful book.

This is a great book for kids who have been in the foster system. It does not paint the birth parents in a bad light, and also shows that foster/adoptive families are still real families. It pretty much covers the whole process from the moment the kids are taken away from their birth parents up until they are adopted. I do agree with another reviewer though who said that the one baby looks like an old man. Lol

We really like this book! It is general enough to apply to many different situations (as in it doesn't make assumptions like you are adopting because of infertility). I think it does a good job of bringing up a variety of reasons why the child isn't with their birth parents anymore and emphasizes that everyone wants the child to be safe. It also makes a point of reminding the child they are not to blame. The only drawback for us is that it is a little long for our 3 year old to sit through.

This was such a good book for our littles experiencing big changes. They enjoyed it and we did too!

Nice way to explain family change to small children. Very positive feedback from children.

This book was very helpful. We have a huge age range in our home. So we were looking for something suitable for all and this worked. The illustrations also stood out to our kids and rang true of their experiences. I would love to see more books like this available for children leaving fostercare to be adopted.

As a therapist working with lots of children in the child protection system, this book has been a wonderful, clear resource that can be used to introduce difficult topics and help answer some of the multiple questions these children are carrying.

A great book for any fostering/ adoptive family.