Me and My Family: A Book for Adopted Children and their Families to Get to Know Each Other

***

Jean Maye, British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), 88pp, 978 1 9075 8537 1, £15 spiral-bound pbk

The British Association of Adoption and Fostering is very good at producing practical, useful books for children in the process of being fostered or adopted, and this latest addition to their list is another good idea.  Devised as a kind of scrap book, it is intended to be used as a child is getting used to the idea of being adopted into a new family.

The book is divided into three sections, the first of which is to be filled in by the prospective family and is called ‘Introducing ourselves and welcoming you’.  It explains and shows pictures of the family, their home, the child’s new bedroom, pets, etc. and gives information about school and the local community.  The child can ask questions at this point too, so some of the sections are left blank for him or her to fill in.

By the time the second section is used, the child will have complete control over the book.  This section is called ‘Moving in and getting to know each other’, and while there are parts of it that will need the cooperation of the family to fill in, the child must decide which sections are important.  There are places to write and draw about feelings and changes, things that are worrying, things that are happy, ups and downs, etc.  There are pages about the child’s adoption day, and a place to paste a copy of the adoption certificate.

The third section, ‘Living together’, is a record of life as a family: special occasions, holidays, achievements, etc, including a short diary for recording events.  The design of the book is colourful and welcoming, and altogether this is a useful tool for those dealing with children in the throes of adoption.