Books for feelings and life
Books about adoption and foster care
Children who are adopted or fostered often ask where they came from and why. These books are plain, warm and honest about what a child may feel.
Picks drawn from long-standing children's-librarian lists, ALSC notable and award records, and Common Sense Media age ratings, with each title and author checked against Open Library, Oct 2026. Checked 2026-10-25. Nobody paid to be here. The buy links are plain search links, not affiliate links, so Peabody earns nothing from them.
A Mother for Choco
Keiko Kasza · Ages 2-6
A bird looks for a mother who is like him and finds a bear. A gentle first book about adoption.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born
Jamie Lee Curtis · Ages 3-8
A child asks to hear the story of her adoption again and again.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
The Family Book
Todd Parr · Ages 2-6
A cheerful book about all kinds of families, adoptive included.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
We Belong Together
Todd Parr · Ages 3-7
A story about adoption, big and small, with Parr's bright pictures.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Zachary's New Home
Geraldine Blomquist · Ages 5-9
A kitten is placed in a foster home and then adopted. A story of foster care for young children.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Katherine Paterson · Ages 10-13
Gilly, a foster child, tries to scare off her new family. A Newbery Honor book.
Watch for: Foster care, prejudice and a death.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Families Are Different
Nina Pellegrini · Ages 3-7
A little girl adopted from Korea sees that families can differ, and that's fine.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale
Karen Katz · Ages 2-6
A rhyming picture book about a couple traveling to meet their adopted daughter.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
More lists
Books about families of all kinds
Single parents, grandparents, same-sex parents, step-families, adoptive and foster families.
Books about anger for kids
Anger is one of the first big feelings children need words for.
Books about sadness and sad days
Children are often told to cheer up.
Books about fear, the dark and monsters
Fear of the dark, of monsters, and of being left is normal between ages 3 and 7.
Books about worry and anxiety
Worry can show up as stomachaches, clinging or perfectionism.
Books about shyness and quiet kids
Shy and quiet are not problems to fix.
Books about loneliness and finding a friend
Loneliness is different from being alone.
Books about frustration and trying again
For the child who throws the pencil when the drawing is not right.