Why Lifebooks?

Lifebooks are an awesome tool for foster and adopted children. Lifebooks are not just simple scrapbooks, they fill in the missing blanks of a child's history and can also offer honest answers to tough questions. Whether a child has been adopted from foster care or India, a lifebook may hold answers for a child as they continue to process their different losses.

This is exactly why I recommend Beth O'Malley's work. She offers clear advice on how to answer these questions without degrading a child's birth family or further traumatizing a child with the blunt truth. Learn how to explain a parent's drug usage or a child's abandonment in an orphanage with Beth O'Malley's wonderful tools. An adoptee and an adoptive parent, O'Malley has a definite passion for her work.

I was faced with a difficult email a few years ago when a grandmother asked how to help prepare a lifebook for her grandchild. This led to an awesome opportunity for me to speak with Beth and ask her advice.  This not only allowed me to help that one grandmother, but to create a few new articles to help all of us who work to prepare lifebooks for children in our care.

• What Not to Put into a Foster or Adopted Child's Lifebook
• Best Ideas on How to Complete a Lifebook for Your Adopted or Foster Child
• Make a Copy of Your Foster or Adopted Child's Lifebook
• Journal Questions for Kids Who Were Adopted or Currently in Foster Care
• Offer Your Favorite Lifebook Tips

Books by Beth O'Malley:
Adoption Book Review: Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child
Book Review: My Foster Care Journey - Lifebook for children under age 8
Book Review: For When I'm Famous - Lifebook for Teens