It's Great to Be Here

[Carrie Kitze]

Hi to everyone and thanks for inviting me to be a part of this group. I am an advocate for adoption and run a small press called EMK Press (visit us by heading here...http://www.emkpress.com). Also known as the Toolbox Press, we publish tools and resources for families touched by adoption. Our first book, We See the Moon was one I wrote to help adoptees to connect with missing birthparents with a simple but powerful tool that everyone has access to, the moon. The next book I wrote is called I Don't Have Your Eyes and it helps people explore the similarities they have on the inside even if they look different on the outside. We have developed a great multicultural activity with skin color chips that you can find in the teacher resources on our site. I have used it from Pre-K to 2nd grade. I wrote both of the above books.

Next I published a book that most consider specific to the China adoptive market called At Home In This World, A China Adoption Story. While the events happen in China, the feelings are universal to adoptees.

The grand daddy of adoption books was our next one. Called Adoption Parenting, Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections it is "What to Expect" for adopting families. It is the book I wish I had when I came home with my daughters and couldn't find the instruction tag... There are over 100 contributors to this book, moms, adoptees, social workers, therapists, birthparents, and some that are combinations of the list. This 520 page book was a project that took almost 2 years from start to finish. But it has become a bible for adopting and adoptive families. Agencies are requiring that their parents have one, or recommending it or they are purchasing it outright as a gift when families start the journey. It has benefited both international and domestic adoptive and fostering families. I am so pleased to have been able to make this book a reality.

Our most recent book is by Sherrie Eldridge (Twenty Things Adoptive Kids With Their Adoptive Parents Knew) and is one of our best tools for kids. It's called Forever Fingerprints, An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children. This book uses a relative's pregnancy as a springboard for adoption discussions and how it makes the girl Lucie in the book feel. There is also a special way to connect through fingerprints that is discussed in the book. If you want to see more, visit here http://www.emkpress.com/fingerprint.html. This is my youngest daughter's favorite adoption book to date.

I will be posting some details later on a nationwide book reading we are going to be doing to launch this book on November 17, National Adoption Day. If you are an adoptee and are interested in doing a reading of this book in your community, let me know!

Thanks for welcoming me to this group. I look forward to meeting you all!

Carrie Kitze

[Caroline F. Daniel]

Hi Carrie - it's great to see you here. Hope all is well with you and yours. Carrie Daniel