This story about a family’s move (written from a Christian perspective) includes activities and parental suggestions for helping young children prepare for a move.

This book provides activities, discussion starters and other resources to help young children process their move and learn about their new culture.

The Bear family is going to the Philippines to serve Jesus Christ overseas. Elementary students Harold and Stanley react differently to the upcoming transition, one with excitement, the other with dread. The Bears go through all the pre-departure activities (taking prayer card pictures, getting passports, learning about the new country, selling the house and packing up). They model saying goodbye to favorite places, friends (school and church) and grandparents.

In this book, a girl says good-bye to each room in her house and remembers special events there. This book could be used to help children implement RAFT.

A young boy moves out of his old house and into a new one far away. He walks through the empty rooms saying good-bye. As he leaves town he looks at the familiar places one last time. After arriving at his new home he begins to make friends and feels more at home as his parents find places for familiar possessions.

A preschooler’s perspective on reentry. Returning to New York when his father’s job finishes, he longs for the familiar ways of living in Africa. He articulates many of the things older children feel but are often unwilling to express.

This activity-oriented book helps children work through the process of an international move. It includes not only discussion topics but practical activities that the child can do with a parent or teacher. This can be used either in going overseas, returning to one’s home country or in redeployment to another country.

This book focuses on the feeling of children who are left behind in a move. It ties into the reconciliation aspect of RAFT. Third-grade Amber’s best friend Justin Daniels is moving. As the reality sets in, both struggle with their feelings. They have a fight and stop talking to each other. How they resolve this conflict allows them to share their feelings and manage the separation.

Ira’s best friend is moving. Follow Ira’s struggle with his friend who idealizes the new location. The story illustrates by negative example how not to tell a child about a move. On a more positive note, it demonstrates how to help them say goodbye and gives hope for maintaining a long distance relationship.

His family is moving, but Alexander has decided he’s not going. He investigates other living arrangements while at the same time saying goodbye to people, places and things. His parents gently help him work through his feeling, until he finds himself packing. This book provides a humorous yet realistic look at a difficult situation.

This is a great book for parents to use in preparing their children for national schools. Spanish speaking Jazmine integrates into an English speaking school. Her mother prepares her, and a bilingual teacher helps, but Jazmine still feels on the outside. Eventually, she finds a way to demonstrate a special talent and is accepted by her classmates.

This Caldecott Award-Winning book is the story of the author’s grandfather who longed to return to his homeland after living for years in San Francisco. It compliments Say’s other book Tea with Milk.

Kate thinks her life is ruined when her family moves from California to Pennsylvania. Readers can identify with her feelings as she copes with the transitions and adjusts to her new life. When she returns to California for a visit, she’s disillusioned and discovers it’s not the same.

This classic American short story was written while Irving lived outside the U.S. He sets a German folktale in the Hudson Valley as he describes Rip’s reentry into American life after a twenty-year sleep.