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Mary Grossnickle

A Place in My Heart Hardcover – August 21, 2014

by Mary Grossnickle (Author), Alison Relyea (Illustrator)

18 ratings

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Who are my birthparents? Is it okay to think about them? Can I care about all of my parents at once?

A Place in My Heart tells the simple story of Charlie, a chipmunk adopted by a family of squirrels, who starts to wonder about his birthparents. At first he is scared that this might upset his family but feels much better when he talks to his mother. The story reassures children that it is okay to ask questions about their birthparents without upsetting their “forever” (adoptive) parents.

This fully illustrated picture book for adopted children aged 2-5 gives you an opportunity to discuss adoption, birthparents, and the fact that our hearts are big enough to hold everyone we care about.

Reading age

2 - 5 years
Print length

36 pages
Language

English
Grade level

Preschool - Kindergarten
Dimensions

8.19 x 0.39 x 10.24 inches
Publisher

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date

August 21, 2014
ISBN-10

1849057710
ISBN-13

978-1849057714
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Editorial Reviews

Review

This charming and realistic book helps children learn to talk about their feelings rather than act out. Charlie has big feelings about adoption, identity and birth parents and acts out his feelings. He is helped by his adopted mother to express his feelings in a positive way including an art project. The children I have used this book with love him and love doing the project. -- Regina M. Kupecky, social worker at The Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio, co-author of Adopting The Hurt Child, Parenting the Hurt child, A Foster-Adoption Story: Angela and Michael's Journey and The Case of the Multiple Mothers

I consider A Place In My Heart one of the very best books for young adopted children (and their parents) because it demonstrates how to make it 'OK' for children to hold their feelings and connections for both of their 'real' families: their birth parents and their adoptive parents. No surprise the book was written by an adult adoptee - she really 'gets it!' -- Beth Hall, Director, Pact An Adoption Alliance www.pactadopt.org , author of Inside Transracial Adoption

This story... highlights that you may not have an answer to all your child's questions, but if you can hold their emotions and be by their side, they can live without these answers. -- Youth in Mind

A Place in My Heart is neither over nor understated in its dealings with adoption. The soft illustrations are well incorporated into the text and greatly enhance the narrative... It is evident that Mary Grossnickle is writing from experience. This is a comforting guide for parents and children alike who are dealing with adoption. -- Sasha Jawed, The School Librarian (SL)

Book Description

This classic illustrated picture book for adopted children aged 2-5 will help adoptive families talk about adoption, birthparents, and sharing feelings

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jessica Kingsley Publishers (August 21, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 36 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1849057710
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1849057714
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 2 - 5 years
Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - Kindergarten
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.19 x 0.39 x 10.24 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #733 in Children's Books on Adoption
- #920 in Children's Books on Orphans & Foster Homes
- #1,359 in Adoption (Books)

Customer Reviews:
18 ratings

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Mary Grossnickle

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Mary Grossnickle was a foster child and was adopted as a toddler. She has worked in the field of adoption and foster care for the past 15 years, providing information, training and support to adoptive and foster families. In 2012, Mary received the prestigious "Champion of Adoption Award," which recognizes a professional who is an advocate for children who joined their "forever family" through adoption. Mary's book, A Place in My Heart, helps children know that it's OK to talk about birth parents, and lets them know that there's room in our hearts for everyone we care about...and for everyone who cares about us.

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gayle h. swift

"A Place in My Heart" -- an Adoption Truth

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

As an adoptive parent and now as an adoption coach, I search for books that support adopted children and help them learn how adoption influences their lives. Many books have been written on the subject. How does a family identify the best books-- especially those that address adoption from the child's point of view.

Mary Grossnickle's sweet story, "A Place in My Heart, is one great example of a story that validates the adopted child's point of view. Charlie--a chipmunk adopted into a family of squirrels wrestles with the differences in their appearance. Adoptees commonly feel like they don't quite fit so they will easily identify with Charlie's struggle. He's an endearing character, full of mischief and curiosity. His mother recognizes the stress factors that challenge Charlie and she responds in a supportive and adoption-attuned manner. Parents also can identify with Charlie's desire to be reassured that he holds a special spot in the hearts of those he loves. We all share this need for connection. This is especially true for adopted children which is why kids will respond to Charlie's situation.

Mommy overtly acknowledges and encourages his thoughts and feelings for his birth parents. This helps helps Charlie to work through them. Charlie learns that he doesn't need to hide or deny his feelings. Charlie doesn't have to choose one over the other; he doesn't have to worry about being disloyal or hurtful to his adoptive parents. Their hearts are large enough to hold all of the people Charlie loves and all of the people who love Charlie. Mom designs a craft project so Charlie can own the important people in his life and place them in his heart. Together they realize that there is always room for loving relationships.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and in the important message of understanding acceptance and validation that it conveys. Alison Relyea-Parr's pastel illustrations have a gentle, dream-like quality that reinforce the comforting tone of the book. Readers will want to duplicate the "Place in my heart" activity. Jessica Kingsley Publishers has presented us with another excellent book.--Gayle H. Swift, author, "ABC, ADoption & Me: A Multicultural Picture Book"

3 people found this helpful

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Rachel LV

Beautiful Book (along the lines of newborn adoption, but is still precious from a foster-adopt perspective)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

My son and I love this book. It is definitely geared more toward newborn adoption (possibly transracial as there is a difference between chipmunk and squirrel)... however my son is being adopted through foster care at 6 years old... so we're in a bit of a different boat. They mention the child (chipmunk) wondering about who his biological parents were, and in my son's case, he knows. But despite that, this is still a favorite of ours. A great way to integrate his past life and current life and all the people he holds in his heart. I also particularly liked a portion where, when the chipmunk is thinking a lot about his birth family, he acts out towards his siblings. That was a great tool to teach my son about how a lot of emotions and thoughts can sometimes make us irritable and make bad choices. And while my son looks almost exactly like me, I appreciate the difference in animals between the chipmunk and squirrel, because as a foster parent we might get a sibling that looks very different and I plan to refer back to this book about how they are all still family even though the hair and eyes and skin aren't the same color. Excellent book... the author definitely writes from a place of knowing and experience.

One person found this helpful

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Trina

A must buy for transracial adoptive families

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 15, 2020

Verified Purchase

As a recently adoptive Momma in a transracial adoption, I could not love this book more. My 4-year old loves it, of all the (seemingly lol) thousands of books at her disposal, this is her most requested. Beautifully written, thank you so, so much for the meaning!

Helpful

Amazon Reviews

I got this one and it is great. The one issue is it refers to birth ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

I was asking about adoption books last week. I got this one and it is great. The one issue is it refers to birth parents and forever parents. Since we teach our daughter that her bmom is her forever mom too I just crossed out forever and wrote adoptive. Other than that it was great. It talks about angry and sad feelings and there being enough room in your heart to love everyone. There is no line about the first family choosing adoption because they loved their kid so much which I love since that can be an upsetting narrative.

2 people found this helpful

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JENNIFER CARYER

Room in your heart.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

great book; wasn’t really specific to how your particular adoption happened, which is just what I wanted. Main message is there is room in your heart to love everyone.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Silvia

Love it!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

Absolutely love this book! We got it as a present when we adopted our son and gave a copy to someone who was adopted for her search of birth family.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ms. Remmi

Fabulous way to discuss adoption

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

We have just a select few books on adoption. I've spent many hours researching and browsing in bookstores and I'm very picky about which books I buy. This is a great one. No specifics about countries (as many books out there do) but just that love makes a family and what a special thing adoption is for both the family and the child.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

MK61

Best adoption book for adopted children

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 1, 2022

As an adoptive parent, relative caregiver and adoption therapist, I frequently refer to this book and use it as bibliotherapy with adopted child and their families. It is a book from the child's perspective validates the feelings most adoptees have about their birth families. It also helps adoptive parents understand those feelings as well and how they can erupt in behavior if not addressed in a healthy way. Not bad at all for a children's book. Mary has done a remarkable job with this story but it should come as not surprise as she herself was adopted as a toddler from foster care. She experienced what she wrote about and it sounds like from the book she had an adoptive parent who helped her work through those feelings.

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