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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Cover of Fostering and Adoption (Let's Talk About).

Cover image from Open Library.

Image source

Fostering and Adoption (Let's Talk About)

Creator

Sarah Levete

Date

Published 2007

Format

Book

A photo-illustrated nonfiction book for children about fostering and adoption, with local evidence of same-sex adoptive-parent language.

Foster careAdoptionMany kinds of familiesTwo mothersTwo fathers
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

Fostering and Adoption (Let's Talk About) is a 2007 juvenile nonfiction book by Sarah Levete, published by Stargazer Books in a 32-page library-binding edition. Unlike many titles in the collection, it is not primarily a narrative picture book about one same-sex-parent family. Its value is contextual. The local record says the book's explanatory text includes the possibility of two adoptive fathers or two adoptive mothers, while public library and bookseller records present it as a general guide for children dealing with fostering and adoption. This makes the item useful for understanding how inclusive family language entered practical nonfiction resources for children.[1][2][3][4]

A Practical Nonfiction Frame

The book's format matters. Public records describe a short, illustrated nonfiction guide rather than a plot-driven family story. Its purpose is to help children name feelings and situations around fostering and adoption. In the collection, that practical frame broadens the range of materials beyond celebratory picture books. It shows how same-sex-parent language could appear inside informational books intended for children facing family transitions.[2][3][4]

Inclusive Adoptive-Parent Language

The local catalog note is the key collection evidence: it reports that the book tells children there may be one or two adoptive parents, including two fathers or two mothers. That wording should be handled carefully because it is page-specific local evidence. Even without reproducing the line, the note makes the object useful for tracing a shift from LGBTQ-family representation as a special topic toward inclusive phrasing inside general adoption resources.[1][3][5]

Adoption And Fostering Cluster

Fostering and Adoption belongs near the collection's adoption-origin picture books, but its role is different. A story such as Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums narrates a particular adoptive household; this book explains the general conditions, feelings, and vocabulary surrounding foster care and adoption. That distinction can help visitors see that the collection includes books for representation, books for explanation, and books that combine both functions.[2][7][6]

Edition And Title Variants

Public records also reveal a small bibliographic complication. Open Library and Google Books identify the U.S. Stargazer Books edition as Fostering and Adoption, while OBNB records a British Franklin Watts title, Talking about fostering and adoption, with Fostering and adoption as an alternative title. For a public collection record, those variants are useful. They explain why the same subject and author may appear under different series or market titles.[2][3][4][5]

Timeline

  1. 2007Stargazer Books editionOpen Library records Fostering and Adoption as a January 2007 Stargazer Books library-binding edition.[2]
  2. 2007Related British titleOBNB records Talking about fostering and adoption, by Sarah Levete, published by Franklin Watts in 2007.[4]
  3. Collection contextSame-sex-parent languageThe local collection note identifies inclusive adoptive-parent wording as the reason the general nonfiction book belongs in this collection.[1]

Adoption And Fostering Records

Related collection items approach adoption and family formation through different child-facing forms.

2002

Felicia's Favorite Story

Two-mother adoption-origin narrative.

2007

Fostering and Adoption

General nonfiction adoption and fostering guide.

2007

Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums

Adoption, birth parents, and classroom family-tree work.

2009

In Our Mothers' House

Multiracial adoptive family narrative.

Explore Connections

Browse direct links, shared themes, and nearby publication dates.

Linked records

Adoption and family-tree story

Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums

Both records sit at the intersection of adoption, children's explanation, and same-sex-parent family language.

References [6][2]

Two-mother adoption story

Felicia's Favorite Story

Felicia's Favorite Story gives a narrative two-mother adoption-origin comparison to this nonfiction adoption resource.

References [8][2]

Many-family nonfiction

All Families Are Special

Both titles use a broad many-family frame rather than centering one same-sex-parent household.

References [2][9]

Shared themes

Many kinds of families

Families, a Coloring Book

A Michael Willhoite coloring book that presents many family structures, including two mothers and two fathers.

Adoption

We Belong Together

A Todd Parr adoption picture book that includes two-mother and two-father families within a broader account of belonging.

Many kinds of families

What Matters Most

A self-published many-family picture book about a child learning that family is defined by care rather than structure.

Many kinds of families

All Families Are Different

A nonfiction activity book that explains many family forms, including families with same-sex parents.

Nearby dates

Published c. 2007

Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies?

A child-facing religious counter-text to LGBTQ-family and same-sex-marriage children's books.

Published 2007

If I Had a Hundred Mummies

An Onlywomen Press early-years title in the collection's UK two-mother picture-book cluster.

Published 2007

Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums

An adoption and fostering resource story about twins with two adoptive mothers, a birth mother, and a classroom family tree.

Kids & Animals & Families Together, 2007

Mother's Day on Martha's Vineyard

A small-press chapter book from a series where pets and everyday family life normalize same-sex-parent households.

Citation

Fostering and Adoption (Let's Talk About). Sarah Levete. Stargazer Books, 2007. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-079.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

  1. Local collection catalog record for Fostering and Adoption · catalog
  2. Open Library record for Fostering and Adoption · library
  3. Google Books record for Fostering and Adoption · library
  4. Open British National Bibliography record for Talking about fostering and adoption · library
  5. Better World Books record for Talking About: Fostering and Adoption · bookseller
  6. CoramBAAF page for Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums · publisher
  7. Existing collection record for Josh and Jaz Have Three Mums · internal
  8. Existing collection record for Felicia's Favorite Story · internal
  9. Open Library record for All Families Are Special · library
  10. Open Library cover image for Fostering and Adoption · image