General Foster Care Books
Featured Books
Sun & Moon
This beautifully illustrated poem gently introduces young children to the love shared by both a birth mother and an adoptive or foster mother. Told with warmth and tenderness, it celebrates how two families can be connected through one child, each holding deep love and hope for them. With mentions of prayer and divine guidance, it’s an especially meaningful choice for families of faith, although it may not align with every family’s beliefs. A touching read-aloud for helping children understand the love at the heart of adoption and foster care.
More Great Books
Stellaluna
While searching for food, fruit bat Stellaluna and her mother are attacked by an owl, leaving Stellaluna lost and alone. She’s soon taken in by a family of birds and must learn to adapt—sleeping at night, eating bugs, and trying her best to fit in. When she’s finally reunited with her mother, Stellaluna realizes that even though she and the birds are different, they share much in common. This beloved classic is a tender story about love, belonging, and the beauty of family—no matter how temporary or unconventional it may be.
A Family is a Family is a Family
A heartwarming story about family diversity, this book follows a foster child who fears her family is too different. When her teacher invites the class to share what makes their families special, she discovers that every family is unique. With caring people at its core, hers is just as special as anyone else’s. A gentle, reassuring read for children, it celebrates all kinds of families and offers comfort to adopted and foster children.
Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care
For many children in foster care, the answer to their questions is often “maybe.” Maybe Days offers a clear, compassionate look at what it means to be in foster care, addressing the uncertainty children often feel and the questions they most want answered. With simple language and gentle illustrations, it helps kids understand the roles of everyone involved—parents, foster parents, social workers, lawyers, and judges—while reassuring them that their feelings are valid. A valuable resource for helping children make sense of the foster care experience.
I Love You All the Same
This gentle rhyming story follows three bear siblings who wonder how they can all be so different—looking, sounding, and eating in unique ways—yet still belong to the same family. With kindness and love, Mama and Papa Bear reassure them that each one is cherished equally. A sweet, faith-based picture book, it emphasizes unconditional love and family bonds, though its overt spiritual message may not fit every household.
The Yellow Shirt: Moving Through Foster Homes
This heartfelt children’s book follows the journey of a yellow shirt as it travels from home to home, symbolizing the moves and changes many children in foster care experience. Along the way, it raises—and gently answers—the big questions and feelings that often come with those transitions. Its reassuring message reminds children that they are always wanted and loved, even if finding their forever home takes time. Written by an adoptive parent, this story helps kids and caregivers talk about the complex emotions surrounding foster care and adoption with warmth and understanding.
Who Loves Baby?
The Who Loves series was created especially for children in foster care, helping them understand that love and care come from many people in their lives. Who Loves Baby (ages 0–3), Who Loves Me (ages 3–7), and I Am Loved (ages 7–10) each celebrate the nurturing support of caregivers, teachers, social workers, and others who show up for them every day. These gentle, affirming books remind children that they are loved, valued, and have a meaningful place in the world. Each book also includes access to a free Who Loves Series Lifebook companion resource.
Featured Books
Suddenly Siblings
This engaging workbook features 25 short lessons designed to help parents prepare their children for the changes that come with adopting or fostering a new sibling. Each lesson offers practical, easy-to-use tools to help kids manage common challenges—like feeling overwhelmed, handling conflict, improving communication, and coping with stress or anxiety—while also strengthening the parent-child bond. With an activity accompanying every mini-lesson, families can move through the material at their own pace, creating space for honest conversations, empathy, and growth as they welcome a new family member.
More Great Books
Kinda Like Brothers
Eleven-year-old Jarrett is used to his mom caring for foster babies—but this time, things are different. The new baby comes with an older brother, Kevon, who moves in and immediately gets on Jarrett’s nerves. Forced to share his room, Jarrett struggles with jealousy and frustration as the boys learn what it means to live together. Through their story, Booth explores themes of racism, poverty, and foster care with honesty and heart. A powerful, relatable read for kids in foster care or those adjusting to life with a new foster sibling.
Forever, or a Long, Long Time
Flora and her little brother Julian have always relied on each other. After years of bouncing between foster homes, they’ve learned that the only thing they can count on is one another. Now, with a new mom and dad, Flora wants to believe that “forever” might finally be real—but old fears are hard to shake. When Julian hides food or Flora stumbles at school, she worries it could all disappear again. Tender and honest, this story explores the lasting impact of instability and the courage it takes to trust in love, belonging, and family.
W.I.S.E. Up! Powerbook Created by the Center for Adoption Support and Education
This practical book helps adopted and foster children learn to confidently handle their stories and respond to questions on their own terms. Using the W.I.S.E. Up framework—Walk away, say “It’s private,” Share something, or Educate others—it presents realistic scenarios kids are likely to face. With guidance for parents and kids together, it equips children with empowering strategies while opening conversations about adoption and foster care in a safe, supportive way.
A Different Home: A New Foster Child’s Story
A Different Home tells the story of Jessie, a young girl navigating her first days in foster care and learning to adjust to life in a new home. Written in gentle, reassuring language and paired with beautiful illustrations, this book helps children understand and process the feelings that come with entering foster care. It offers comfort, hope, and practical support for both children and caregivers, with helpful notes for adults on how to use the story to start meaningful conversations about change, safety, and belonging.
Families Change: A Book for Children Experiencing Termination of Parental Rights
All families grow and change in different ways—sometimes through marriage, the birth of a baby, or when a child joins a new family through foster care or adoption. This gentle, affirming book helps children understand that these changes are never their fault and that it’s okay to love and remember both their birth family and their new family. With simple, reassuring language and colorful illustrations, it offers comfort and clarity during times of transition. Includes helpful resources for birth parents, foster and adoptive parents, social workers, counselors, and teachers.
Kids Need to Be Safe: A Book for Children in Foster Care
Some children need safe places to live for a while, and that can mean staying with foster parents. This gentle, easy-to-understand book uses simple language and warm illustrations to explain why kids sometimes move to foster homes, what foster parents do, and the many emotions children may feel during the experience. It also reassures children that being in foster care is never their fault and that they are not there because of anything they did wrong. A supportive resource for helping kids feel seen, safe, and understood.
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Eleven-year-old Gilly Hopkins has been in more foster homes than she can count—and she’s made sure none of them have worked out. Tough, smart, and determined not to care, Gilly has built walls around herself to avoid getting hurt again. When she’s placed with the quirky Trotter family, she plots an elaborate plan to reunite with her birth mother. But things don’t go as planned, and Gilly’s heart begins to change in unexpected ways. The Great Gilly Hopkins is a timeless, heartfelt classic about family, belonging, and the power of love to heal.
Cindy R. Lee’s TBRI™ Collection
Author Cindy R. Lee’s six-book series for ages 7–9 uses engaging stories and colorful illustrations to help children learn about emotions, differences, and family life through the lens of trust-based relational intervention (TBRI™). Each book gently teaches key lessons in self-regulation, empathy, and connection—skills that help kids build stronger relationships and confidence. Designed with both children and caregivers in mind, the series includes practical tips and discussion guides to support parents in applying trauma-informed strategies at home.
Echo
Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, young Otto encounters three mysterious sisters who bind him to a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica with a destiny of its own. Decades later, that same harmonica connects the lives of Friedrich in Nazi Germany, Mike in Depression-era Pennsylvania, and Ivy in wartime California—three children facing immense hardship and injustice. A Newbery Honor and New York Times bestseller, Echo is a sweeping, magical story of music, courage, and resilience that beautifully shows how hope can carry us through even the darkest times. Perfect for pre-teens, tweens, and teens, it’s a timeless tale destined to become a family favorite.
Finding the Right Spot
This heartfelt story follows a young girl navigating life in foster care, offering a voice to the complex emotions many children in care experience. Through her journey, readers encounter themes of resilience, loyalty, hope, disappointment, love, sadness, and anger—emotions that are both raw and relatable. Written with warmth and honesty, the book can be read independently or shared aloud, making it an excellent tool for opening conversations with children about their own experiences and feelings related to foster care, family, and belonging.
Locomotion
Written by three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Jacqueline Woodson, this powerful novel-in-verse tells the story of Lonnie, a young African American boy coping with trauma, loss, and separation from his sister after entering foster care. Through Lonnie’s poetry, readers witness his journey of grief, resilience, and healing as he finds strength in his own voice and the steady support of a caring foster parent and teacher. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, this beautifully written story is ideal for ages 7–12—or for anyone moved by tales of courage and the power of words.
A Kid’s Book About Foster Families
Perfect for ages 5–9, this gentle, age-appropriate story explores themes of change, family, love, and safety. Through its warm narrative and thoughtful illustrations, it helps children understand what foster care is and what it can feel like for kids experiencing it. One reader shared, “The book delicately handles the subject in a way that was easy for my children to understand while also encouraging empathy and open-mindedness.” Both detailed and accessible, it’s an excellent teaching tool and conversation starter for families, classrooms, or support groups.
Loris Opens Up His Heart
When Loris moves into yet another foster home, his new siblings don’t understand why he won’t play, laugh, or join in their fun. As Loris slowly begins to open up, he discovers his own courage and the healing power of connection. Inspired by the true story of an eight-year-old boy who tragically lost his life due to abuse, Loris Opens Up His Heart gently explores difficult themes with compassion and hope. Centered on resilience, empathy, diversity, and acceptance, this moving story is best suited for older elementary readers and those supporting children in foster care.
I Am Loved
I Am Loved follows a young boy’s heartfelt journey through foster care as he shares his questions, worries, and hopes—and learns about the many people working to help him and his family. This gentle, affirming story gives voice to the complex emotions children in foster care often experience, reminding them that even when life feels uncertain, they are never alone. The book includes special pages for children to tell their own stories through words or drawings, helping them process their experiences. Each purchase also includes the free companion Who Loves Series Lifebook!
Open Hearts, Open Home: A Foster Family Story
Foster care brings both joy and challenge, and this engaging book helps families prepare to open their hearts and homes to children in need. Through the story of Sophia, her brother, and their parents, readers explore what it means to welcome kids in crisis—learning about trauma, healing, and the powerful role of fostering along the way. Written by a foster mom, the book includes discussion questions to help families talk openly and stay connected throughout the journey. A practical and encouraging addition to any foster family’s toolbox.
Every Family is a Tree
In today’s world, families are beautifully diverse—created through birth, adoption, surrogacy, foster care, and beyond. Some children are raised by grandparents, while others grow up with two moms, two dads, or other loving caregivers who form a family together. Inspired by her own experiences with infertility, loss, and welcoming her sons through gestational carriers, pediatrician Dr. Andrea Z. Ali-Panzarella offers a heartwarming, inclusive story celebrating all the ways families are made. This tender book reminds children that no matter how a family comes together, love is what makes it whole.
Featured Books
The Quiet You Carry
Victoria has learned to accept her father’s abuse as normal—until the night he locks her out, and her world changes forever. Thrust into foster care during her senior year, she must navigate a new home, a new school, and the haunting memories she can’t escape. Nightmares and flashbacks make it hard to move on, and her biggest fear is for her stepsister, still living with her father. The Quiet You Carry is a powerful, unflinching story about trauma, survival, and finding strength in vulnerability. Though difficult to read at times, it leaves readers with hope that honesty, compassion, and courage can lead to healing.
The War That Saved My Life
Crippled by an untreated clubfoot and confined by her abusive mother, Ada has survived but never truly lived—until the evacuation of London’s children during the Blitz offers her and her younger brother Jamie a chance to escape. Taken in by Susan, a reluctant guardian grieving her own losses, the siblings experience food, warmth, and safety for the first time. Slowly, trust and love begin to grow between them. While not a foster care story in the modern sense, The War That Saved My Life mirrors the emotional journey of many children in care—learning to trust again, to believe in love, and to find a sense of belonging. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s moving tale of resilience, courage, and healing continues beautifully in the sequel, The War I Finally Won.
The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I Learned to Successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal
This practical guide offers more than 50 short, accessible lessons designed to help tweens and teens navigate the foster care system—and begin to heal beyond it. With a focus on empowerment and self-understanding, it helps young people recognize the many supportive adults in their lives, including foster or resource parents, case managers, GALs, therapists, and social workers. By learning how to seek guidance, ask for help, and build trusted relationships, youth gain the tools they need to thrive. A valuable resource for both teens in care and the professionals who support them.
More Great Books
Far From the Tree
Far From the Tree is a heartfelt young adult novel that follows three teen siblings who were separated in the foster care system and unexpectedly find their way back to each other. As they rebuild relationships and uncover shared histories, they must also navigate complicated family dynamics, identity struggles, and the lingering effects of loss and abandonment. With empathy and realism, the author captures the emotional depth of teens who have lived through foster care and adoption. Authentic and deeply moving, this book offers an honest look at what it means to belong, to forgive, and to find family in unexpected places.
Three Little Words: A Memoir
Three Little Words is the powerful true story of Ashley Rhodes-Courter’s nine years in the foster care system and her journey from trauma to triumph. Removed from her mother at age four, Ashley endured fourteen placements—some neglectful, others abusive—before finally finding the stability and love of a forever family. Told with honesty and courage, her memoir sheds light on the deep emotional toll of the foster care system while underscoring the resilience of children who survive it. Both heartbreaking and inspiring, this book is a call for greater compassion, advocacy, and hope for every child in care.
A List of Cages
In this moving and powerful young adult novel, Adam is enjoying a relatively calm senior year—until he’s asked to mentor a quiet freshman who turns out to be his former foster brother, Julian. Years ago, Adam’s family cared for Julian after his parents’ death, but when an uncle claimed custody, the boys were separated. Now reunited, Adam begins to realize that something is terribly wrong in Julian’s new home. Drawing on her background as a social worker, author Robin Roe delivers a heartbreaking yet hopeful story about abuse, resilience, friendship, and the profound impact of chosen family. A List of Cages is a poignant reminder of the healing power of love and connection.
Forever, or a Long, Long Time
Forever, or a Long, Long Time is a touching middle-grade novel about siblings Flora and Julian, who’ve spent their young lives moving from one foster home to another. Now adopted and living with their new parents, Flora struggles to believe that this family—and this love—can really last. When her brother hoards food or she can’t find her words, old fears resurface, and she wonders if they’ll be sent away again. Through gentle storytelling, the book explores the lasting effects of instability, the resilience of children, and the deep bond between siblings. Heartfelt and hopeful, it beautifully captures what it means to find—and trust—a forever family.
Free Verse
In Free Verse, author Sarah Dooley tells the moving story of Sasha Harless, a grieving teen navigating life after losing her brother—the last family she had. Orphaned and placed in foster care in a small West Virginia town, Sasha wrestles with deep anger, anxiety, and a powerful urge to run from her pain. Her new foster mother offers stability, but healing feels impossible until Sasha discovers poetry and begins to find her voice through writing. Told with empathy and grace, this novel beautifully explores grief, resilience, and the unexpected ways art can help us make sense of loss and rebuild hope.
One for the Murphys
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is a moving story about twelve-year-old Carley, whose life has been turned upside down after a violent incident leaves her hospitalized and placed in foster care. Angry, guarded, and uncertain of her worth, Carley is sent to live with the Murphys—a warm, stable family that feels foreign to her after years of chaos. As she slowly begins to trust and experience genuine care, Carley wrestles with loyalty to her mother and the unfamiliar kindness surrounding her. Tender and hopeful, this novel beautifully captures the journey of healing, belonging, and learning that love can be safe.
The Great Gilly Hopkins
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson is a beloved classic that follows eleven-year-old Gilly, a tough, fiercely intelligent girl who’s been bounced from one foster home to another. Known for her sharp wit and defiance, Gilly lands with the Trotters—a quirky, big-hearted family she’s sure she won’t like. Determined to reunite with her birth mother, she plots a daring plan to escape. But when things don’t go as expected, Gilly is forced to confront what family, love, and belonging truly mean. Honest, funny, and deeply moving, this timeless story offers an unforgettable look at resilience and the power of unexpected connections.
Extraordinary Birds
Almost twelve-year-old December Lee Morgan has learned to survive by keeping her distance. The scars on her back—left by her mother—have become symbols of her belief that she’s really a bird waiting to grow wings and fly away. When she’s placed with Eleanor, a foster mom who rehabilitates injured birds, December is both fascinated and unsettled by her new surroundings. As she helps care for a wounded hawk and befriends Cheryllynn, a classmate who bravely embraces their identity, December begins to question the stories she’s told herself about pain, belonging, and love. A moving, poetic story about healing, identity, and finding home when you least expect it.
Waiting to Forget
Waiting to Forget is a tender and emotional story told through the eyes of eleven-year-old T.J., who has always been his little sister Angela’s protector. After years in foster care, the two are adopted, but the ghosts of their past still linger. When an accident leaves Angela unconscious, T.J. finds himself in a hospital waiting room, torn between fear, guilt, and confusion about what it means to belong in a new family. Through flashbacks to their time in neglectful homes and moments of quiet hope in the present, this heartfelt story explores trauma, love, and the slow, brave work of healing.
My Flight Training Manual: Flying Above the Clouds in Sibling Relationships
This engaging workbook helps tweens and teens explore how sibling relationships shape who they are and how they relate to others—especially when growing up alongside a sibling with a trauma history. Grounded in scientific research and written in a clear, relatable style, it gives kids tools to manage stress, reduce conflict, and build stronger, more understanding connections with their brothers and sisters. Designed for use alone or together with parents, it also includes guided activities to strengthen communication and trust within the family. A valuable resource for fostering empathy, resilience, and teamwork among siblings.
Returnable Girl
Ronnie has learned not to trust anyone—especially after her mom left for Alaska with her boyfriend and little brothers, abandoning her to the foster care system. Bounced from one home to another because of her anger and defiance, she finally lands with Alison, a foster mom who might be her last chance before a residential placement. Determined to make it work, Ronnie wrestles with loyalty, belonging, and the deep ache of being left behind. As she faces challenges with friends and battles her own fears, she must decide who she wants to be—and whether she’s willing to let someone truly care for her.
Hope’s Boy: A Memoir
This powerful true story follows Andrew, who was taken from his mother at age seven after she was hospitalized for mental illness. Sent first to a notorious child welfare institution and later to a foster home where he faced neglect and isolation, Andrew held tightly to two things—his love for his mother and his determination to learn. Through the compassion of a few caring teachers and his own resilience, he rose above years of hardship to build a successful life and career. Today, he dedicates his work to serving children affected by poverty and the foster care system, offering the same hope and support that once helped him survive.
Trash Bag of Memories
Trash Bag of Memories is a raw and powerful memoir from former foster youth Jessica, who recounts her turbulent journey through abuse, neglect, and a failed adoption after years of being shuffled from home to home. Told through vivid, fragmented memories, her story sheds light on the often-hidden realities of the foster care system—the trauma, the survival, and the desperate hope for belonging. Despite the heartbreak woven throughout her childhood, Jessica’s courage and honesty transform her pain into purpose. Her story is both a call to action and a message of healing, reminding readers that awareness and compassion can spark real change for children in care.
What I Carry
What I Carry follows seventeen-year-old Muiriel, who has spent her entire life navigating the foster care system and is now preparing to age out. Her suitcase—carefully packed and perfectly minimal—is both her armor and her symbol of survival. Determined never to rely on anyone but herself, Muiriel’s life begins to change when she’s placed in what could be her final foster home and begins to discover what it means to truly belong. Written by a foster and adoptive mother, this poignant novel explores resilience, independence, and the courage it takes to open your heart to love after a lifetime of loss.
Untangling Hope
Untangling Hope tells the story of Hope, a middle school girl navigating life in her seventh foster home. Surrounded by a cast of unforgettable characters, Hope’s journey shines a light on the tangled emotions, relationships, and resilience that define the foster care experience. Written by author and foster mom Johnna Stein, this heartfelt story explores themes of loss, healing, and self-discovery with warmth and authenticity. Both entertaining and deeply moving, Untangling Hope offers readers a powerful reminder that even in the midst of uncertainty, love and belonging can take root.
Beyond Blood
Beyond Blood: How Being a Foster Brother Shattered My World and Rebuilt It offers a rare and powerful glimpse into foster care through the eyes of a biological child. Co-authored by a social worker and her son, Ben, this book captures the emotional highs and lows of welcoming foster children into an existing family— from jealousy and confusion to compassion, growth, and deep love. With honesty and heart, Ben shares how his perspective was transformed by the experience. A must-read for parents, tweens, and teens preparing to foster, this book beautifully illustrates how fostering can change not just a child’s life, but an entire family’s.
Emily’s Dragon
Emily’s Dragon is a short film that powerfully portrays the experience of a young girl removed from her family and placed in foster care. With the steady support of her CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer, Emily begins to navigate the confusion, fear, and uncertainty of her new reality. Through its gentle storytelling and emotional depth, the film helps viewers—especially families with older elementary-aged children—understand the complexities of foster care and foster adoption. It’s an excellent resource for sparking family conversations about empathy, advocacy, and the importance of safe, supportive adults in a child’s life.
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