Families Change: A Book for Children Experiencing Termination of Parental Rights

by Julie Nelson, Mary Gallagher (Illustrator)

All families change over time. Sometimes a baby is born, or a grown-up gets married. And sometimes a child gets a new foster parent or a new adopted mom or dad. Children need to know that when this happens, it’s not their fault. They need to understand that they can remember and value their birth family and love their new family, too. Straightforward words and full-color illustrations offer hope and support for children facing or experiencing change. Includes resources and information for birth parents, foster parents, social workers, counselors, and teachers.

Genres: Adoption, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Fostering, Childrens, Family, Parenting

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

General enough to encompass many situations, allowing the reader to get into or avoid detail. For example, abuse and incarceration are alluded to without elaboration. The focus is on both positive and negative changes. Features multicultural illustrations and an extensive message and resource list for caregivers.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, thoughtful Book

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.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important book for talking to kids about a change in the family. Simple language and the inclusion of many different reasons for the change.
I do wish the illustrations where a little more toddler friendly, but it is a great start to my "foster family" collection.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Gave me some new ideas on how to discuss this topic w/ my clients. I've also taken the book w/ me & read w/ kids when I've had to discuss TPR.

[Makenzie Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brings up a hard topic for children to cope with, and many children go through it. This book would help those kids understand what's happening.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very general book, which allows the reader to adapt it to the child's specific situation. For that same reason, you'll definitely want to preview it before reading it to a child because there are allusions, both in text and illustration, to some potential triggers. The advisory at the beginning encourages the reader to change the text as needed, but you'll want to be very aware of the illustrations too.

That said, I think it's a good read about the many different make-ups of families and how they're all ok and it's all "normal." The beginning simply addresses change, and that all families change when people move, grow up, get married, join the army, and so on. The author talks about the confusing feelings around change, and how some changes can even be happy and sad at the same time. At about the midway point we begin to hear about birth parents, foster parents, kinship care and adoptive families. Again, previewing will help tailor this to the specific child.

I think it's very important for a child to see themselves reflected on the page, and that books are a good way to help them make sense of their world. This is a good title for that, and I appreciate the diversity shown in the illustrations. It's a pretty heavy-handed book though, and I wish there had been a silly moment of some kind to help the readers crack a smile. For younger readers and/or a lighthearted message about different family types, I'd highly recommend The Family Book.

[Alex Fairhill · Rating 2 out of 5]

While including many different ethnicities, family types and situations, this book should be read with care to children in foster care/adoption.

The book is suggested to be read to children by an adult, who is advised to change the language to suit the child - which is a sensible approach, and suitable advice for Australia, where adoption is not as prevalent as in the US due to long-tern foster care and permanent care orders - however, this is difficult to do with images including or alluding to police, violence, alcohol abuse, and abandonment.

The book's main message is that 'all families are real and important'; yet the text constantly refers to the birth and biological family above foster and adoptive families. In my opinion, this book is likely to be limited children in care, as the inclusion of clinical notes - while useful - along with the technical title mark the book as a therapeutic tool, and it is therefore unlikely it will be picked up by 'general' readers, reducing its ability to spread the key message.

Basically: For children who have 'experienced termination of parental rights', read carefully, give opportunity to discuss, beware of triggers.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the subtitle, this is my TOP pick for books for children in foster families. With a matter-of-fact tone, it discusses how families change. "Sometimes a baby is born, or a grown-up gets married. And sometimes a child gets a new foster parent." (Since my children aren't in an adoptive situation, I omit reading "...or a new adopted mom or dad.") Children need to understand that they can love and value their birth family and love their new family, too.

Our children aren't alone in their experience of a parent or family member in the hospital, in jail or in treatment. While separated from their parent, a child grows and changes by little bits every day. "Some changes are happy. Some changes are sad. Some changes are happy and sad at the same time."

This book can help reiterate messages of love, safety and patience that a child hears from the parent, social worker and/or bio-parent. Our family is changing. We have many feelings. We can understand this together and love each other.

[Katelyn Scholl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Families Change is an informational text that is important that all children read. Children who have had changes in their families and those who have not both can benefit from this book. Although these is not a set storyline, numerous types of family structures and problems are discussed. For children who have not experienced many family changes, this book offers a number of wide perspectives they can view families as. Things like one parent homes, adoptive families, foster care, and relatives leaving for things that include treatment, jail, or the hospital are mentioned. Those topics touch on major aspects of family life that need to be discussed more with children. The book is also made of mostly simple text that children will want to read on their own. Illustrations show culturally diverse families which allows for more connections to be made for all readers of this book. I believe that the content of this text is important to include when writing a book about family, and elements of this text are key for children to understand others perspective.

[Alma Gomez]

This would be a great book for when a kid experiences a family change and is about fostering a family. Families change when a baby is added to the family, grown-ups get married, a kid gets a new family. This book informs children it is not their fault. It also informs children to value their birth family and their new family.

Grade- perschool-5