Ashlee Spink – illustratör

An accessible, warm-hearted story, written by an adoptive parent, centred around two young bears who find themselves out in the cold, alone, and begin their journey to being adopted into a forever family. The story acknowledges the mix of emotions children being adopted can feel - the fear and worry, as well as the joy of experiencing love and kindness from their new carers. With appealing animal characters and beautiful illustrations, The Blanket Bears offers an honest yet gentle account of the complete adoption journey for children starting or trying to understand the process. It's also a great introduction to young children more widely about how the process of adoption works and how some families come to be together. In order the strike the right balance of accuracy and sensitivity for young readers, the author consulted and collaborated with professionals and psycholigists as well as drawing on the lived experiences of his children. Many children's books about adoption focus purely on adapting into the new family but this has a more holistic and realistic focus, all from a child's perspective. This book is perfect for primary schools in early years and key stage 1 to help children empathise with their adopted peers. Social workers, foster carers and adoptive families with younger children often use The Blanket Bears as a soft and sensitive warm up to life story work as it helps adopted children feel less alone and process their own adoption story through their shared experiences with the bears in the story. Endorsed by Adoption UK, recommended by clinical psychologists.