10 of the Best Adoption Books to Read With Your Children

This beautiful book tells the story of a domestic adoption, but it explains the concept of adoption so sweetly that it works many situations with a little extra dialogue. Something to know going in is that it does give a very specific reason for placement - that the birth mother was too young to care for the child. It’s a brief mention, and my children have never been terribly focused on it.

This is another book about international adoption from China in particular, but the gorgeous illustrations and love-filled language used make it a great jumping-off point to talk about any type of adoption. The beautiful thing here is the honor paid to the birth family - there is particular attention paid, and a deep respect represented here, as opposed to the lack of focus that is seen in many adoption-themed children’s books. Encouraging children to hold their birth families in honor and respect helps show them to honor and respect themselves and where they came from, and I love this book for encouraging that regardless of circumstances. One of my twin boys talks frequently about his adoption status and worries about his birth family often, and this book is a particular comfort to him.

This is one of my all-time favorite adoption books for children. It’s a great introduction for younger kids, but my seven-year-olds still ask for this one. It starts out feeling very much like the classic "Are You My Mother?" By P.D. Eastman, but instead of finding the mother that looks like him, our little bird friend finds a mother bear who wants to be his mother. Choco is worried at first that they don’t look alike, until he meets Mrs. Bear’s other children – a hippo, a pig, and an alligator. The colorful illustrations actually show that not all families look like each other, and while it doesn’t introduce any adoption language, the story is simple enough that adding in the terms that works for your situation is a cinch.

I love this adoption-positive ABC book! It celebrates adoption and family and addresses trickier subjects at the same time, without getting heavy or becoming tedious for kids. My absolute favorite aspect of this book is the letter R, which is for “real.” It explains that both biological parents and adoptive parents are “real” and makes it clear that this is not the correct term to explain the difference between the two. It’s written by a mother with her adopted daughter, and the happy tone and easy-to-follow language make it a perfect way to introduce and revisit a variety of adoption topics. Whether your kids are learning their letters or reading on their own, this is an ABC book worth having on the shelf.

This is a cute, upbeat intro to adoption terms for younger kids. The narrator, Samantha (or Sam, as she prefers), is spunky and thrilled to share her adoption story. There is a well-written intro for adults about talking about adoption with kids, and the illustrations are cute and colorful. My favorite things about this one: it includes great engaging questions at the end of the pages from Sam herself (“Are you adopted, too?” and “Do you know how old you were when you were adopted?” for instance), and that every page represents a wonderful array of skin tones, hair colors, and body shapes. I also appreciate that this book used the term “uterus” when talking about where a baby develops, rather than the more common “tummy,” and that there are simple illustration of a baby in the womb included in a book that Samantha’s parents are reading to her. To me, it’s a detail appropriate for younger children, and can easily be explained more in depth or skimmed over based on the reader’s preferences.

This book was brought into our home specifically for dealing with anger and the inevitable “If I were with my birth family, they wouldn’t make me (insert undesirable thing, like a time-out or a chore)!” It is a really short book for dealing with such big, big topics. But, it’s a great conversation starter and way to address the unpleasant feeling of injustice that every child experiences at some point. Oliver’s parents are patient with him and do not get upset or hurt when they realize that he is, in that moment, wishing for the life he thinks he might have if her were not adopted.

This is a sweet, cuddly little book full of soft colors and watery illustrations. It tells about little Barley, a bear cub, and his mama. It’s a lovely, uncomplicated story about what seems closest to a private adoption. There is very little mention of Barley’s birth family, but it does touch on them in a loving way, making a larger conversation easy to launch into, if that’s your goal. It also speaks about God helping bring Berkley and his mom together, so if that itself is not in keeping with your families beliefs, then this is not the book for you. My children enjoy this book because it really shows how special Barley is to his mom. She adores him and is honest about how long she waited to be a mom, and how sad that sometimes made her. Feeling like they are someone’s wish come true is so, so special for a child, and this book highlights that feeling.

So, this one isn’t specifically a book about adoption. It is, however, possibly the sweetest book about the love from a parent to a child that I have ever read. A story about this book: When my son started first grade, he really struggled. Every school day started and ended with tears, and in the middle were calls home and more tears. He was so down, and it brought up so many feelings and past trauma. It made him question his security in our family all over again, despite having been with us for three years and despite our many reassurances. It was a real rough patch for us. One night I read this book and he said, with big tears and a quivering lip, “Mom, that book makes me feel better. Can you please read it every day?” So I did. Every day for weeks. And even though I have it memorized, it still makes me tear up every. Single. Time. It’s really that good. We aren’t reading it every day right now, but it’s still in regular rotation.

I feel like such a cheater here. Not only am I including two books here that aren’t specific to adoption, but they’re both by Nancy Tillman. Here’s the thing, though- Nancy Tillman is amazing. We might obsessively collect her books, and every last one could have been on this list, despite none of them mentioning the word adoption. They are warm and lovely and beautiful. I am including this one in particular because it tells about the whole world- the earth itself, the wind, the animals- celebrating the birth and uniqueness of a child. I love this one particularly for situations where, however wrong and however sad, a child may not have been celebrated in their birth or their early years. It is impossible for a child not to feel cherished after reading this book, and every child deserves to have that feeling.