Abstract

Meet Lucie - she is a rambunctious, inquisitive, seven-year-old girl who was adopted! Lucie has lots of questions about everything. When Lucie's pregnant Aunt Grace and Uncle John come to visit, new curiosities bubble into Lucie's mind. What does the baby do in there? Does he eat? That night Lucie has an amazing dream, that her birth parents are a king and queen who live in a castle. She knows she grew in her birth mother's tummy, but if her birth parents lived in a castle, why didn't they keep her?

The next day, Dad helps her to make an amazing discovery - he tells her how to find a special connection with her birth parents, and how you can too!

Forever Fingerprints is a heartwarming, fun story written for children aged 5-11 which uses an everyday experience to embark upon a gentle exploration of some of the difficult questions and feelings commonly expressed by children who are adopted. Adoption expert Sherrie Eldridge also provides a valuable 'Parent Tools and Activities' section, with ideas for creative activities and suggestions on how to explore issues such as belonging, identity, self-esteem and connection.

Sherrie Eldridge has written an amazing book for children. As an adult adoptee I love how it helps children to feel a direct connection with their birth parents in their everyday lives.
Pam Kroskie, President, The American Adoption Congress, Adoptee and Author
Forever Fingerprints is an enjoyable, simple and useful book which can be used to start conversations between adoptive parents and their children - not only about a child's connection to their birth family, but also about the complex thoughts and feelings that often come with life in an adoptive family.
Gregory C. Keck, Ph.D., Founder/Director of the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio, co-author of Adopting the Hurt Child, Parenting the Hurt Child, and author of Parenting Adopted Adolescents
Forever Fingerprints is a fun read-aloud with great illustrations and I use it with the children I see. It gently introduces children to two ideas: that sadness over missing birthparents is normal, and that adoptive parents can be a source of help and comfort when they have difficult feelings.
Deborah D. Gray, therapist and author of Attaching Through Love, Hugs and Play, Attaching in Adoption and Nurturing Adoptions
Sherrie Eldridge's adoptive grandmother, who worked as the social worker on her case, placed her in the loving arms of her mum 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 Wish 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.
Forever Fingerprints is my all-time favorite adoption book! It is an integral part of our program to make hospitals 'adoption sensitive'.
Rebecca Vahle, Founder and Adoption Liaison, Family to Family Adoption Support Program, Colorado