Books, booklets & multimedia

Nutmeg Gets a Little Sister

	Price: £12.00	(BAAF, 2007) ISBN 978 1 905664 22 1

The adventures of Nutmeg, the small red squirrel, continue with this appealing story exploring family relationships, which can be particularly complicated for adopted children. Their adoptive family may include birth children or children who have been previously adopted, older brothers and sisters or younger siblings. This diverse mix can lead to uncertainty, confusion and, if a new child joins the family, a need to re-negotiate family roles.

In this story Nutmeg, Poppy and Hops are living happily with their adoptive parents when they hear that their half-sister Pip, who lives with their birth mother Holly, has fallen out of a tree and broken her tail. Mummy Holly can’t keep Pip safe and look after her properly, so Pip needs a new family and is going to be adopted.

When Nutmeg’s family decides to adopt Pip themselves the young squirrels are very excited to be getting a new sister, and are eager to meet her and help her to move in. But they are a bit anxious too and have many questions – what will it be like to have a new child in the family? What if she doesn’t like us? Will I have to share my room and toys?

Comprehensive practice guidelines, which accompany the book, will help parents and professionals to get the most out of the story and to deal with some of the problems and concerns that could arise when considering sibling adoption.