Though not written specifically about moving overseas, this book does an excellent job addressing kids’ feelings about moving. In full-color with adorable illustrations, it begins by explaining change and goes on to teach kid-friendly strategies for handling emotions like sadness, anger & worry using behavioral therapy techniques. Kids are given ways to try these out and encouraged to put their favorites into their “Sad Sack” “Mad Sack” and “Worry Sack” to pull out when needed. The book also does a good job helping kids say goodbye well, and covers some parts of settling in.
The content is relevant to a broad age range from young children through teens, but the format makes it best suited to elementary kids. Younger children will need parents to assist with the reading. While teens would likely consider this too childish, those with younger siblings could benefit from the strategies it teaches. Parents could orchestrate this by going through the book as a whole family “for the sake of the younger kids.”
Reading level: 6-10 years
“Estrellita was sadly saying, from the window of the giant plane, ‘Goodbye my precious, little island, darling piece of my heart. I am leaving…without knowing when I will hug you again, but you will forever be my beloved.'”
As she flies to a new home, a child recalls the things she loved about the land she’s leaving behind. Her lyrical reflections may inspire young TCKs to create their own goodbye tributes as they move to new homes.
Written in Spanish and English. The Spanish verses rhyme and are printed above the unrhymed English text.
Reading level: age 5-10
Ten-year old Samantha is about to start her fifth school. After living in Nepal for several years, she and her family have returned “home” to Australia, but Sam has had a hard time fitting in.
Assigned to sit at a table with the “mean girls”, Sam feels excluded. When she is teased for ineptly explaining her parents’ jobs, she defends herself with a wild story about her mom, but that only makes things worse. As she gets in deeper trying to defend the lie the mocking gets meaner and Sam becomes more and more miserable until things finally reach a breaking point.
Though the story is about a young TCK the major theme of the book is how to recognize and handle subtle and overt bullying.
Ages 8-12
Available on Kindle here
Rosie gets a letter from the boy down the street… then he moves away. But he keeps sending letters, even after Rosie moves to new places, again and again.
One day, it’s time for Rosie to go home. But “Rosie had a problem… Rosie had too many homes.” Which was her REAL home? In this truly delightful TCK love story (based on the real life story of the writer and her husband), Rosie discovers an important TCK truth – home is not a place but a person. This book relates to people of all ages, from children to adults.
This cute book is narrated by a little gecko from Laos. He introduces the readers to his home in the capital city of Vientiane, and explains he usually shares his house with a family. Illustrations show the new expat family who has just moved in. Little Gecko quickly befriends the children (and scares their mom), and together they explore the city. All too soon it’s time for the family to move again. Still, Little Gecko is glad for the time they had together.
“Friendships are special no matter when they start. Goodbyes just mean you have a place in my heart.”
Written in both English and Lao, this book combines a travelogue about Laos with a snippet of a story about a brief friendship between a lizard and two little TCKs. But the cute illustrations, rhyming text, and sweet message make the odd combination work.
Seven-year old Katie has already lived in two states & now her family is about to move again. As she thinks about saying leaving behind her friends, favorite places & fun activities, she remembers how much she missed everyone & everything after her first move. And she realizes she’ll need to go through the sometimes-lonely process of making new friends, just like last move.
But then Katie realizes something–if she hadn’t moved the first time, she’d have missed out on all the things she loves now. And if she stays here, she’ll miss the “treasures” awaiting her in the next place. And with that, she’s ready for her next moving adventure.
Because the book is written in first-person with Katie talking to the reader, she is basically giving children advice about moving rather than narrating a story. In addition to her positive perspective about finding “treasures” in each location, she tells how she got through the adjustment after her first move while she was still trying to make friends. The friendly, upbeat tone keeps it from feeling “preachy,” and kids can learn some helpful things about moving from brave, optimistic Katie.
The book ends with four journaling pages where children can list the treasures and friends they are leaving at their old home and those they find at their new home. It also has pages kids can tear out to write letters to their old friends.
Reading level: 4 to 8 years
