Behind the scenes
The story behind the story.
A peek at how The Little Star Who Found Home came to be.
How I wrote the book
A gap I wanted to fill.
When I looked at the shelves, I noticed a gap. There were books for children about adoption, and there were books for grown-ups about adoption — but very few that an adult and a child could read together, at the same time, and both feel part of it.
I know this from the inside. I was adopted myself, and my own story began before I came home — a beginning that matters, and a beginning that was never my fault. That's what I wanted in the pages: that a child's story starts before adoption, that every part of it belongs to them, and that there is room for all of their feelings about it — the happy ones and the wobbly ones too.
I wanted a story where the grown-up has just as much to hold on to as the little one. A book that opens the door to the big questions — where did my story begin, who do I belong to, is it my fault? — in words soft enough for bedtime, with room for the adult to pause, share, and answer in their own way. Nothing rushed, and nothing a child has to carry alone.
So I wrote The Little Star Who Found Home for both of them. The child can follow the little star and the pink teddy through every page, while the grown-up reads between the lines and finds the words they've been searching for. Along the way there are the everyday moments every family knows — muddy wellies by the door, dancing in the kitchen, bedtime stories, rather a lot of snacks — because that's where belonging really lives.
A story to be read side by side — because talking about a child's story works best when you're looking at the same page together.
The teddy's story
One teddy. My number one comforter.
My pink teddy was the only teddy I had. When I was adopted and went to my new home, she came with me — the one small, well-loved thing I carried into a whole new world. She was there for the first nights, the big feelings, and every fresh start.
I still have her now, all these years later — a little worn from all that love, but still mine. She never said a word. She just stayed.
That's why she's in the book, on nearly every page — for any little one arriving somewhere new with their own special something tucked under their arm.
Free for families
Colour in the teddy and the little star.
Print it out, grab your crayons and make it your own. Share a photo and tag Sarah — she'd love to see it!
Download the colouring page