Mary Hopkins-Best is Professor of Education and Dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Stout, and the mother of a child adopted as a toddler. She holds degrees in special and regular education, rehabilitation, and a doctorate in education. She is a member of the Adoptive Families of America, Parents of Peruvian Adoptees, and Peruvian Adoptive Families.
I found it easy to read and with lots of headings it was simple to go to an area I was interested in. If toddler adoption is something you're thinking about, then this is the right book for you! -- Foster Families Hopkins-Best provides a guidebook for those considering toddler adoption or those already struggling with its special challenges. She discusses at length strategies for dealing with issues such as a grieving toddler or attachment disorder. The appendix provides a wonderful list of resources. Perhaps most valuable are the anecdotes of both successes and failures from other toddler adoptive families. An important addition to all Adoption collections. -- Library Journal With practical advice, personal insights, and the shared experience of a number of parents who adopted toddlers, this book offers suggestions and strategies that will certainly contribute to the readiness of parents undertaking the challenges of caring for newly arrived toddlers -- Adoptive Families At last someone has put into words those fears and frustrations I experienced as the parent of a newly arrived toddler and has offered practical strategies for dealing with unique issues. If Hopkins-Best's book had been available as we were adopting I would have felt affirmed and empowered instead of isolated and incompetent. This should be a required reading for pre-adoptive families! -- From a parent of children adopted in toddlerhood Thank you for this compelling and readable exploration of an issue that has been lost in the shuffle before now – that adopting a child at the toddler stage is not a mere extension of what we know about adopting infants, nor do the tools proven useful for families adopting older children work with toddlers. Both parents and professionals will find this an invaluable tool. -- From an adoption professional