Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children [Library Binding]

Sherrie Eldridge (Author), Rob Williams (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

For adopted children, learning about their beginnings and how they understand what that means to them is a process. It doesn t happen at one point in time, but rather throughout the experiences of life. In this heartwarming children s book, Forever Fingerprints uses a common occurrence a relative s pregnancy as a springboard for discussions on birthparents, where adopted children are before they are born, and how that makes one little girl feel about it. Lucie is excited to feel a baby moving in her Aunt Grace s tummy but it makes her think of how she understands her adoption story in a different way. The tools offered in this book help her to create a unique connection to her birthparents, allow how she is feeling to surface and to be discussed, and give Lucie s parents the chance to reinforce their love for her, to empathize with her feelings and to honor her past. This book book resonates with 7 year olds and adults who have discovered that the feelings and emotions are shared by so many. While it looks like a simple children's book, this book helps parents and children create a family connection and strong foundation for discussing adoption questions. It's a veritable toolbox for adoptive families with a parent guide at the end of the book on how to open adoption discussion and a wonderful connection to birthparents for every adopted person, regardless of their age, with their fingerprints.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Forever Fingerprints deftly guides children to two essential concepts: sadness over missing birthparents is normal, and adoptive parents can be sensitive supporters for their children's grief. Thanks for writing this book, Sherrie. It is a fun, read-aloud with great illustrations. I will be using it with the children I see. Deborah Gray, therapist and author of Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents and Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Neglect and Trauma. --From Deborah Gray, Therapist and Author

Sherrie Eldridge's books on adoption and her heartfelt advice have truly impacted the lives of our family! Forever Fingerprints is her best yet! Every family blessed by adoption, adoptees, and birth parents must have Sherrie's books in their libraries! Susan Wales, Author and Producer and Ken Wales, Executive Producer of the CBS series Christy and the movie, Amazing Grace --Susan and Ken Wales, Author and Exec Producer of the CBS Series Christy and the movie Amazing Grace

Forever Fingerprints is an exquisite book that will bring joy, significance, comfort, and encouragement to the heart of every adopted child. The tender story is expressed with creativity and originality. Every adoptee who reads this book will be forever impacted by the power of these words. I also enjoyed the charming humor that is woven throughout the story. It comes from the heart of adoptee Sherrie Eldridge, and combined with the engaging illustrations of Rob Williams, what a beautiful book! And I am sure it will be a timeless treasure. Carol Kent, Speaker and Author A New Kind of Normal --Carol Kent Speaker and Author A New Kind Of Normal

About the Author

Sherrie Eldridge's adoptive grandmother, the social worker on her case, placed her in the loving arms of her mom and dad at ten days of age. Never in her wildest dreams did Sherrie imagine carrying her own granddaughter by adoption, Megan Grace in her arms. Affectionately known as 'Mimi' to all her grandchildren, she is more convinced than ever that adoptees share a special bond, no matter the age span. Just as her highly acclaimed book Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wished Their Adoptive Parents Knew blends authenticity and tenderhearted compassion for parents and the children they have adopted, so does this book, written just for you.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: EMK Press (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972624430
• ISBN-13: 978-0972624435
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 10.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Adoption

More About the Author

Sherrie Eldridge....Coaching Adoptees to Get Strong and Move On

Award-winning author and speaker, Sherrie Eldridge is straight-shooting, transparent, and compassionate toward everyone touched by adoption. Her basic belief about adoption loss is that one can grow from the loss and grief. Thus, the online support she founded is called the 140 member international ALL-ADOPTEE GROWTH [e-mail]. It is open to adopted teens and adults.

ADOPTION RESOURCES at www.sherrieeldridge.com:
Books:
~20 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
`20 Things Adoptive Parents Need to Succeed
~20 Life-Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make
~Questions Adoptees Are Asking
~Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children

Free Workbooks: (for support group use, individual, counselor)
~Under His Wings: Creating a Safe Place for Adoptees to Talk @ Adoption
~Under His Wings: Spanish edition
~Beauty for Ashes...Transforming A Painful Past
~12 Steps for Adoptees
~12 Steps for Adopted Teens

ALL-ADOPTEE Online BOOT CAMP
~3 times per year
~Join; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ALL-ADOPTEE

Blog: Braids of Adoption: http://sherrieeldridge.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I really want to like this book....It's OK, December 13, 2007

By 

Book Crazy Mom - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children (Library Binding)

After reading 3 five star reviews, I thought I'd love this book for my 5 year old girl adopted from China. But I think I'm sending it back. I've heard Sherri Eldridge speak in person and thought this would be a good book, but it just strikes me funny. Its a strange book in several ways. Three specific things sit wrong with me: at one point, Lucie (the star of the story) wonders if the baby inside her aunt is pooping and then she wonderings "where did the poop go? did it turn into pizza?" What???? I know kids tend toward potty humor, but this is just gross in my opinion. In another scene, Lucie is upset and is sitting on her mom's lap. Then the book says "Unbuttoning her shirt, she (mom) tucked it around Lucied with they rocked back and forth, back & forth." This is not behavior we practice in our house and I'm not quite sure how to explain it to my daughter. Third, on the same page Lucie wonders if there are fish in the water around her aunts baby, and the book shows a picture of the baby in the womb with fish swimming around him. My daughter is too literal for this type of picture -- reproduction is confusing enough without putting in confusing pictures! Overall, I feel this isn't a well written children's book - its one of those books written by someone who wants to be a children's author but just isn't even though they have a great message (not the likes of Karma Wilson or Felicia Bond or Kevin Henkes etc. etc.) I feel the same way about the Shaoey & Dot books even though I love Steven Curtis Chapman. I wish an accomplished children's author would write a great adoption book! Anyhow, this isn't a terrible book, but not a great one either in my opionion. Probably good compared to what's out there overall, but for me I've decided to send it back to Amazon and order "How I was Adopted" by Joanna Cole.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forever Fingerprints, September 7, 2007

By 

Perrin Slowey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children (Library Binding)

This book has been a huge hit with my 5 year old, who was adopted from China. She absolutely loves the idea of fingerprints and how they are a tangible gift from her birth family. They make her unique. The author does such a wonderful job telling the truth about adoption in a sensitive and loving way but without the fantasy of ladybugs and red threads.

Forever fingerprints has opened some honest and lovely conversations about adoption. I am amazed at how open and easy my daughter talks about the book and how it relates to her personal story.

This book is a must for all families who have been touched by adoption, schools, and libraries as it serves to easily normalize adoption in our lives today.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good tool for discussion, November 29, 2007

By 

Mary Ostyn "Owlhaven" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children (Library Binding)

This children's story uses a relative's pregnancy as a springboard for discussions on birthparents and adoption. I could relate to this, since some of my best adoption-related discussions with my 6 adopted kids have come in talk about an aunt's pregnancy.

I found the story interesting and thought that the child's questions in the book would encourage children to ask their own questions. This is more than just an adoption book, though. It talks about the fact that everyone grows inside someone.

I've read that this is something that not all young adoptees understand. They know they didn't grow from their adoptive mom, but they don't really understand that they did come from someone. The book gives a gentle, non-detailed talk about the facts of life (ie, there is a special way that a man and woman come together to make a baby), so you might be prepared to provide your child with more details if he has more questions after hearing this story.

The pictures in this book are sweet, and feature hands of many colors. The book even comes with a stamp pad so that you can do a fingerprinting activity with your child. The author is an adopted person herself, and she addresses the issues surrounding adoption with honesty, compassion, and hope. This book would be a good addition to a family library and just might offer a good opening for your child to ask questions that have been troubling him.