Auntie’s event: ‘Compassionate Foster Care’

Above: (L to R) Molly Kretchmar-Hendricks, Janet C. Mann (Spokesman-Review photo by Jesse Tinsley)

Fiction is full of tales involving orphans (read "Oliver Twist"). But real-life stories involving foster children can be even more harsh.

The problems around foster parenting are what co-authors Janet C. Mann and Molly Kretchmar-Hendricks will address at 7 p.m. Thursday at Auntie's Bookstore. The two co-wrote the book "Creating Compassionate Foster Care: Lessons of Hope from Children and Families in Crisis."

A former foster parent, Mann is founder of Spokane's The Children's Ark foster home. Kretchmar-Hendricks is a professor of developmental psychology at Gonzaga University.

The book's foreword was written by Glenn Cooper, one of the co-founders of The Circle of Security.

One of the quotes from the book is telling: "Every child's way of being can open doors to wisdom, compassion, and human connection. We need only to listen."

Listening certainly isn't the only path to raising healthy children. But it's certainly a good start.