Product Description
Special Stories Publishing was founded in 2006 by children's author Kate Gaynor. We produce and publish children's books that deal with sensitive and difficult issues that sadly, many children must face. The Special Stories Series is the first in a number of collections to be released. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a really great set of books
This really is a wonderful collection of 7 childrens books that introduce children to a range of health and social issues such as foster care, adoption, speech difficulties, asthma, diabetes, limited mobility and childhood cancer. Each book is nicely illustrated and introduces each topic in a unique and child centred way. This series is a great resource for schools and libraries. There is limited material available for children on theseso thank you to the author Kate Gaynor for making this series available ... Read more

Product Description
Elizabeth, who was born in China, describes the family who has adopted her and tries to sort out her feelings for her unknown mother. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Inappropriate language on adoption
As an adoptive mom who has spent the past few years reading 'best practices' books on talking with kids about adoption by both experts and adult adoptees, I had hoped this storybook would be a helpful addition to our library. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed in this book.Some of the language the mother in the story uses to talk to her daughter about the circumstances of her daughter's adoption are completely inappropriate for any child.The author offers a clumsy, misguided, and age-inappropriate description of China's one-child policy that I found disturbing ("Your parents couldn't keep you, they already had a child"). Furthermore, many adoption experts point out that it is demeaning (not to mention confusing) to adopted kids to compare adoption of a child to that of an animal.This author chooses to make a very direct connection to taking ownership of an animal from the animal shelter to the child's own adoption.What makes these critical flaws all the more disappointing is that the book contains some truly wonderful descriptions of the connection between the child and her forever mom, as well as lovely illustrations.

For readers looking for a well-written storybook for younger children that helps open discussions about birth families, try Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children by Sherrie Eldridge. You won't be disappointed.

Disappointed
The book is wonderful.....but not at all relevant for a single mom who adopted from China. There are several references to Daddy.I was disappointed. The book is useless to me. I wish there was a single mom version of this book.At a minimum, I wish the book description would have told me that this was a book with references to a two parent situation (Mommy and Daddy) as I wouldn't have bought it.

Charming! Compassionate!
The title of this charming bookalready tells us that the author includes the birthmother in the family's lives. This adoption story is told by the young child Elizabeth and shows her thought process as she looks at her adoption album and consoles her mother when she didn't have a baby yet, but now she does. The author also charmingly introduces Penny, the dog adopted from an animal shelter and young Elizabeth is happy for Penny to have a family too. It is fun to see the two little Chinese girls talk about their"far mommy and a near mommy" and fantasize talking to their far mommy on the toy telephone. The author cleverly weaves in the adoptive family's love for the two unknown Chinese birthmothers and throughout the pages lets us feel Elizabeth's joy and sorrow when she thinks of her unknown Chinese mommy. Our family has experienced this kind of love for our own birthmother during all the years that we did not know her, but now we have found one another and have a wonderful relationship.

Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?

Mommy Far, Mommy Near -- Best Bet
As an adoptive parent of two daughters, I've read many adoption books and this one is exceptional! Mommy Far introduces themes for readers aged pre-school and up in a gentle and compelling way. Brownell's wonderful illustrations heighten the loveliness of this book.The message that adoption is warm and good and loving is inescapable and very powerful.

What I really loved is the fact that the story is told by a child to other children- the book's readers.'This is my story,' she seems to be saying,'And this is how I came to understand it.'

With the daughter Elizabeth as narrator, it is the story of a little girl, adopted from China, coming to the realization of what adoption really means for herself, her family, her sister
and both sets of parents.More importantly it is the journey Elizabeth takes to understanding her journey into adoption and the vital role both mothers play in her life.

It contains loving adoption games created by mother and daughter.
Elizabeth's continued child's play using pretend phone calls from Mommy Far illustrates her growing understanding of two mommies. Elizabeth's birthmother is portrayed in very sensitive and undertsnding terms, both in text and illustrations.The young heroine ultimately concludes that both mothers have their time and place and both can fit into her life.

While this would be a wonderful addition to any library, it is especially significant for those touched by international and transracial adoptions.

Sensitive, Touching Adoption Story From Child's Viewpoint
In this sensitive, intelligent and witty account of a girl from China being adopted by U.S. parents, the author has successfully related both the emotional and factual elements of the adoption process. I especially liked the fact that the book has been written from the child's point of view. My wife and I adopted a girl from China several years ago, and this book has been a godsend to us. As we read the book to our daughter, Sarah, we realized that the author was saying all those things we had been feeling and wanting to say, yet couldn't find the words for.

I might also add that although the child in this book, Elizabeth, is from China, I feel the story is universal and applies equally well to kids from the United States or other countries.

I can not recommend this book highly enough for parents who have adopted or are considering adopting. You are truly undertaking a journey of love... a journey that is described accurately and poignantly by the author. ... Read more

Product Description
This timely study analyzes the issue of adoptions that cross racial and national lines, and assesses their success and appropriateness. The book's centerpiece is a comprehensive long-term study of the transracial adoption conducted by Rita Simon and Howard Altstein, the result of twenty years of research and analysis. The authors discuss the case often made against transracial adoption and explain the laws that govern these adoptions. ... Read more

Product Description

Over the past twenty years, the growing shortage of adoptable infants in the United States and Britain has forced a number of couples to look abroad. What exactly are the costs, hazards, and emotional difficulties that these couples face, and why do some couples feel that this is their only chance of becoming adoptive parents?

Inter-Country Adoption charts the experiences of eight couples who, between them, have adopted eleven children from South America, India and Sri Lanka ranging in age from four months to seven years. The main emphasis of these first-hand accounts is on the events leading up to the decision to adopt from abroad and on the obstacles involved in dealing with the authorities in Britain and in the child's country of origin. The final two chapters are written by an academic social worker and a parliamentary campaigner who examine the legal and ethical considerations of inter-country adoption.

This lively and highly readable book is of great value to social workers, social policy makers, lawyers and to the general reader with an interest in adoption.

Product Description
This text discusses open adoption and related issues about attachment, the formation of personal identity and the meaning of permanence in child care. It highlights assumptions about the nature of the family and beliefs about the role of the state in family matters. The book is a challenge to some of the practices in the recruitment and preparation of those who would adopt to the process of planning, decision-making and the placement of children who are adopted, and to the role of agencies in post adoption support services. The work considers the relationship of the law to practice in open adoption and changes in practice that may facilitate more openness. It includes six different family interviews concerning the experience of openness of all parties to adoption, comparing these interviews to interviews conducted six years previously. This book should be of interest to social workers, guardians ad litem and family law practitioners. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It's UK contested adoptions - not USA
First let me tell anyone interested that this book is based on United Kingdom case studies and law.Second, and more importantly, it comes across as very liberal and non-realistic in its ideology. The central theme is "Wouldn't it be much better if we could all work together and agree." There is a strong bias against child care agencies and workers.Many of the case studies are based on a very small number of cases. Several of the case examples are of the extreme rather than typical experiences. One example told the heart wrenching story of the evil case worker who wouldn't let the dear grandmother use the toilet when she arrived early for a visit. It does present a good case for considering an open adoption. ... Read more

Product Description
The Golden Egg - A Story About Adoption ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, published by Auslib Press Party Ltd. on September 1, 2002. The length of the article is 4875 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Electronic databases in public libraries: issues of organisational adoption.
Author: Kirsty Williamson
Publication: Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2002
Publisher: Auslib Press Party Ltd.
Volume: 15Issue: 3Page: 110(7)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This color-illustrated book helps young children, between the ages of 3-7, understand the concept of "adoption" through the eyes of Dina and her curious friends. "Mother's Day in March" explores a family's loving preparation for a "special" day. This book will certainly encourage other adoptive families to celebrate personal events as holidays based on their own adoption stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must for adoptive parents
Sweet and innocent way to introduce adoption to a child while giving families the incentive to celebrate their own personal special moments. ... Read more

Product Description
THIS STORY DEALS WITH THE HARDSHIP OF ADOPTION FOR AN OLDER CHILD, ONLY IT DOES IT WITH HUMOR AND LOVE THROUGH THE EYES OF A VERY LIKEABLE SLIGHTLY OVERWEIGHT FRENCH POODLE, WHO OVERCOMES MANY FRUSTRATIONS AND FINALLY GETS ADOPTED BY A LOVING AND CARING COUPLE. ... Read more

Product Description
This story conveys a father's perspective about adoption. To this end, the often complex adoption process is simplified to help moms and dads describe "what happened" to their children. Mr. Busby says "It is a picture book, designed as a vehicle to gently explain how families come together through adoption." In sharing his personal story, the author hopes to provide a starting point for discussions between other parents and their daughters from China. The author hopes that other adoptive families will find the picture book helpful as a facilitative tool as they tell their own family stories. The story is punctuated with several questions to elicit imaginative responses from children about what they think the little girl might do when she gets older. The author hopes you enjoy Carson's Book, one of many storys of the little girls that come from China to become members of famlies in locations throughout the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Carson's Book- a treat for us all.
This is a wonderful book, that is, as the etymology of the word says, full of wonder. It is told from the heart about one family's process that is full of all kinds of twists and turns, yet is also about all of our stories.As an adoptive parent of a wonderful daughter from China myself, I found the book remarkably warm, candid, and poignant. The pictures are great, the writing superb; a wonderful combination of two people who (from the outside look as if they) obviously enjoyed the process of working together.

This is a book for all those who already have or are thinking about adoption from any country.It is not the country of origin that matters in this book, but the wonderful story of the process and the resulting children who bless us and enrich our lives. I never write reviews for books for a number of reasons; this is the first exception to my policy. I could not think of a better reason to make an exception.
... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The Harvard Law School professor critiques the current laws and practices surrounding adoption, discussing international and domestic law, common reasons for adoption, and the definition of family. 15,000 first printing. Tour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Intelligent Exploration of Adoption
Family Bonds is a bit more personal than Bartholet's other title, Nobody's Children.Bartholet is a mother to one child born prior to her divorce, and two boys adopted from Peru as a single, divorcee.Batholet states that "The myth is that the legal structure surrounding adoption is designed to serve the best interests of the child.Actually experiencing the system as an adoptive parent shattered this myth for me."As a woman who endured the international adoption process I too had this myth shattered.The current adoption system, both domestic and international, is a travesty.The needs of children are the lowest priority and their "best interests" is something to which only lip service is paid. Anyone who has traveled to a foreign country can attest to the heartbreaking conditions of orphanages and the bizarre affinity for orphanages over international adoption.You need only be exposed briefly to babies languishing in wooden cribs or strapped to potties as early as possible to be appalled by the fact that so-called "advocates" for children oppose adoption and actually support anti-adoption sentiments.Most of the children in these orphanages are not legally "available" for adoption, yet they are purportedly "better off" being NOBODY'S CHILD than being an American's child.It is a disquieting notion, but nonetheless a reality.

Elizabeth Bartholet is a voice of reason in the adoption world; a world that is sadly perverted by anti-adoption forces clinging to a mythological ideology that blood equates to the best parenting scenario for all children.This is a dangerous ideology as many are willing to sacrifice children's lives in order to defend it.Children rot away in the foster care system and most are reunited with their parents at all costs - to the point that many are killed by their biological parents who are unfit to parent them.It is reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery.We cling to barbaric ways simply because it is "the way we've always done it".

Compassionate ideas
I found Elizabeth Bartholet's view of parenting to be thoughtful, intelligent and compassionate.As the birth mother of one, this book made me want to consider adoption as a compassionate way to expand my family -- even without fertility problems as the motivation.

Family Bonds
If you're an adoptee or birthmother, don't waste your money on this narrow-minded view of adoption.Bartholet has little to say about birthmothers!When she does mention birthmothers, she seems to view them as inconsequential baby machines.No empathy in this book! ... Read more