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A Different Home: A New Foster Child's Story
A sensitive picture book to help ease the anxieties of foster children aged 4 to 10 entering placement.
In A Different Home, Jessie tells us her story of being placed in foster care. At first she is worried and has lots of questions. The new home is not like her old home -- she has a different bedroom, different clothes, and there's different food for breakfast. She also misses her family. When Jim and Debbie, her foster parents, answer her questions she begins to feel better and see that this different home is kind of nice.
Written in simple language and fully illustrated in color, this storybook is designed to help children in care, or moving into care, to settle in and answer some of the questions they may have. Accompanied by notes for adults on how to use the story with children, it will be a useful book for foster parents and caseworkers, as well as social workers, teachers and anyone else working with children in foster care.
In A Different Home, Jessie tells us her story of being placed in foster care. At first she is worried and has lots of questions. The new home is not like her old home -- she has a different bedroom, different clothes, and there's different food for breakfast. She also misses her family. When Jim and Debbie, her foster parents, answer her questions she begins to feel better and see that this different home is kind of nice.
Written in simple language and fully illustrated in color, this storybook is designed to help children in care, or moving into care, to settle in and answer some of the questions they may have. Accompanied by notes for adults on how to use the story with children, it will be a useful book for foster parents and caseworkers, as well as social workers, teachers and anyone else working with children in foster care.
50 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
John DeGarmo
25 books9 followersBorn in 1969, Dr. John DeGarmo has worn many hats throughout his life. Singing and dancing while touring around the world in the international super group, Up With People, serving as a D.J. at four different radio stations on two different continents, working in the professional wrestling industry, teaching English and Drama at the high school level, and working as a media specialist at two different schools, Dr. DeGarmo has had a variety of experiences.
Dr. John has appeared on several TV programs, including CNN HLN, Good Morning America, ABC Freeform, and NBC, FOX, CBS, PBS stations. He writes regularly for many magazines, and is a regular contributor to several publications, both in the United States and over seas.
Dr. DeGarmo and his wife are the recipients of the Good Morning America Ultimate Hero Award, and the Up With People Every Day Hero Award. The two also were honored with their city's Citizens of the Year Award.
He is the director of The Foster Care Institute, and acts as a consultant to foster care agencies and legal agencies across the USA. Dr. John is a dynamic speaker and informative trainer on the foster care system, and travels extensively across the globe, meeting with foster parents, child welfare workers, churches, schools, and organizations.
Dr. DeGarmo is married to Dr. Kelly DeGarmo, who hails from Australia, and the two of them have six children, both biological and adoptive. Dr. DeGarmo and his wife are also currently foster parents to three siblings, bringing their household to nine children. Dr. DeGarmo has been a foster parent for dozens of children for over a decade now. He has a passion for foster children, and is driven to bring education and insight into general society about all things foster care.
Dr. John has appeared on several TV programs, including CNN HLN, Good Morning America, ABC Freeform, and NBC, FOX, CBS, PBS stations. He writes regularly for many magazines, and is a regular contributor to several publications, both in the United States and over seas.
Dr. DeGarmo and his wife are the recipients of the Good Morning America Ultimate Hero Award, and the Up With People Every Day Hero Award. The two also were honored with their city's Citizens of the Year Award.
He is the director of The Foster Care Institute, and acts as a consultant to foster care agencies and legal agencies across the USA. Dr. John is a dynamic speaker and informative trainer on the foster care system, and travels extensively across the globe, meeting with foster parents, child welfare workers, churches, schools, and organizations.
Dr. DeGarmo is married to Dr. Kelly DeGarmo, who hails from Australia, and the two of them have six children, both biological and adoptive. Dr. DeGarmo and his wife are also currently foster parents to three siblings, bringing their household to nine children. Dr. DeGarmo has been a foster parent for dozens of children for over a decade now. He has a passion for foster children, and is driven to bring education and insight into general society about all things foster care.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 4, 2025
The Degarmo family is amazing and as a foster parent I was so thrilled to find a book written for children in care. It is a challenging topic and one that the children in our home have not been ready for or to read. As an adult I enjoyed the book, but we found it hard to read the whole thing to our kids.
February 11, 2015
If you ever wondered what a foster child thought or how they feel when they enter into a new foster home this book will give you a glimpse. It may not be every child's story but it certainly shows the mixed feelings and need to feel loyal to their birth family. The desire for all children to be home where they know the rules and the expectations, no matter how horrible it may have been is very real.
I thought that this was a well written book that may help other foster children know that their feelings are valid, and common. While their story may be different the feelings may be similar and it would make a good starting point for a conversation. The pictures themselves spoke volumes and the emotion of them practically oozed off the paper. This is a great book for foster families and anyone considering fostering a child
I thought that this was a well written book that may help other foster children know that their feelings are valid, and common. While their story may be different the feelings may be similar and it would make a good starting point for a conversation. The pictures themselves spoke volumes and the emotion of them practically oozed off the paper. This is a great book for foster families and anyone considering fostering a child
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews