Transfiguring Adoption’s Overview:
The target audience appears to be children who are in preschool and elementary school. This book was written for foster families to help foster children better understand their situation and the possible outcomes (returning home or being adopted). In an expository style, the main character, who is a foster child, describes what life is like in foster care. The book introduces many of the people involved in a foster child’s life. This is a valuable tool for a foster family to have in their hands to help a child understand on their own level a situation that is often difficult to comprehend. The reviewer and three former foster youth noted some thoughts and concerns explained in the cautionary points below.
The illustrations portray the daily life of the foster child through simple watercolors described as “nice” by one former foster youth. They match the cheeriness of the text. One reader expressed a desire that the illustrations have more depth and dimension. In the back of the book, readers learn that the illustrations were completed by a high school senior, Rebekah Wood, who is facing a chronic pain condition and using her art to share her experiences. We look forward to seeing her art develop over time as she hopes to illustrate many more children’s books in the future!
Overall, readers expressed a desire for more of a story line and character development to make the characters more relatable to children. Readers overwhelmingly felt the book was unbalanced toward positive emotions and did not validate the negative emotions, grief, and trauma felt by children removed…
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** Spoilers Could Be Ahead **
About the Author: Margie Fink
Margie Fink: Development Director
[email protected]
Margie received her degree in psychology and has worked in various social work capacities. Margie has been chosen in the past to speak on Capitol Hill about the Adoption Tax Credit. She is a witty foster/adoptive mom who is able to give kids from hard places loving structure while providing unbelievable homemade cooking. Margie co-founded Community Kids, a resource and networking 501(c)3 created to assist foster, adoptive, and relative caregiver families.
Check Out: Thoughts From A Foster-Adoptive Mom
**Transfiguring Adoption is a nonprofit organization seeking to nurture growth in foster and adoptive families by giving a HOOT about their families. Transfiguring Adoption does not intend for its reviewers nor its review to be professional, medical or legal advice. These reviews and discussion guides are intended to help parents to better be able to connect and understand their children who come from traumatic backgrounds.
