May is National Foster Care Month: Help Us Share Books

May is National Foster Care Month!

Did you know that over 325,000 children and youth are in the foster care system in the US (with some estimates much higher)? In Iowa, there were over 5,800 children needing foster care in 2025, with fewer than 2,000 licensed homes to meet that need (see https://www.fostercarecapacity.com/ for more facts & figures!).

Fostering is a difficult task, and foster parents need all the help they can get when it comes to supporting both their foster children and their adoptive or biological children through the process. But how to explain complicated issues (like foster care!) to young children? Enter: The picture book. Reading books to children provides an entry point for important questions and conversations. This May, let’s help get high quality picture books about foster care into the hands of more foster families!

Here’s how it works:

I have selected three of my favorite picture books related to foster care to be bundled together and donated, one bundle for every $45 donated in May. Here is the deal: you cover the cost of the books ($45 is the suggestion donation amount, to cover one book bundle, but you give as much or as little as you want); I will take care of sales tax, shipping costs, bundling and delivering the books to nonprofit organizations in Iowa that connect with foster parents.

Book bundles will include three picture books–one told from the foster child’s perspective, one from the biological child’s perspective, and one that is a gentle introduction to the reasons children are in foster care in the first place: because kids need to be safe.
Home for A While: A Foster Care Story by Lauren H. Kerstein ($16.99)
Sharing My Family by Jessica Pleuss ($14.99)
Kids Need to Be Safe by Julie Nelson ($12.99)

Donations toward book bundles can go directly to Expanding Circle Press via Venmo (click here: https://account.venmo.com/u/expandingcirclepress ) or reach out if you’d like to donate another way (e.g. mail a check).

Questions? Let me know! I would love to get book bundles to as many families as possible, so please spread the word!