Stories that Shine Light on Love, Family, and Belonging.

Check Out My Books!

Children's book cover titled 'The Adventures of Bandit and Pablo: We Are Brothers!', featuring a cartoon cat and dog standing in grass with flowers, blue sky with clouds in the background.

Cover of a children's book titled "The Adventures of Bandit and Pablo: We Made a New Friend!" featuring illustrated animals—a kitten, a squirrel, and a dog—standing in a forest with trees and green foliage.

Cover of 'The Adventures of Bandit and Pablo: Coloring and Activity Book' showing a cartoon dog and cat in a grassy field with clouds in the sky.

Smiling sun with a face, rays extending outward.

Welcome! I’m Katie Kibort-Gibbons

I’m an adoptee, an adoptive parent, and a licensed therapist who has walked alongside families navigating the complex and beautiful journey of adoption. Through both personal and professional experience, I’ve come to understand just how important it is for children to see their stories reflected in the pages of a book.

That’s why I created The Adventures of Bandit and Pablo—a heartfelt picture book series that helps families talk about adoption, identity, and belonging in a way that’s engaging and accessible for young readers.

Whether you’re a parent, educator, or therapist, my goal is to provide resources that support connection, open up meaningful conversations, and celebrate the joy of family—however it’s formed.

Thanks for being here. I hope Bandit and Pablo can be a part of your story too.

Shop the books

Adoption is wonderful, but sometimes even something wonderful can be tricky.

Often, adoption comes with a lot of questions,
both for parents and for children.

Silhouette of a family holding hands on the beach at sunset, with the ocean and sky in the background.

A yellow heart with sun rays extending outward, on a black background.

Yellow smiley face surrounded by sun rays on a black background.

What did we do? Remorse or resentment can leave adoptive parents feeling completely isolated.

How do we handle this when they have been through so much? Many adoptive parents have a hard time telling their children no or having firm consequences because they feel sorry for what they have experienced. However, this lack of parenting can leave them with some bad behavior from their kids and big frustrations at home and school.

Does anyone understand me? Adopted kids know that their non-adopted parents do not understand what they are feeling or experiencing due to being adopted. Even in the most loving of families, adopted kids go through times where they are not attached to their adoptive families or they see the biological siblings being treated a little different by the family.

Who do I look like?
Will I ever fit in with these people?
I wonder if my “real” family ever thinks about me?…

Yellow sun with rays radiating outward on a black background

These are just a sample of the common thoughts that every adopted person thinks at one time or another. And that is totally okay!

I aim to make conversations about adoption
a bit more fun for parents and children!

Two young boys sitting on a blanket, smiling, with a welcome sign and names 'Kristopher and Alexander' dated May 19th, 2001.

I was adopted in 1970 and the world of adoption looked very different than it does today but the impact of adoption on the children and families involved is the same. In 2001, I adopted my son’s from Mogilov, Belarus.

Yellow sun with a spiral in the center and rays extending outward on a black background.

Through my stories, I try to grapple with these challenging questions in a way that’s approachable and fun for children, but still informative and helpful for children and parents alike.

A yellow heart with radiating lines, resembling the sun.

And a lot easier!

Let me introduce to you…

A tan dog with a black collar and a ginger cat with green eyes sitting on a patterned rug near a glass door.

A ginger cat and a husky dog are lying on a bed, touching noses and appearing to be interacting lovingly.

Bandit & Pablo are my cat and my dog, who are both adopted! Through them, adopted children can see characters who feel similar emotions and encounter issues that many adopted kids have experienced. But my books have a very important message in each of them; that even if you feel bad or look different, you can get through this and you will be ok! My passion for writing these books comes from my desire to provide characters that shine a light on what adopted people experience, how they are different, and what makes them unique. And I hope that these stories also help adoptive parents gain an understanding of what it feels like to be adopted.

Animated illustration of a cat and dog sitting on grass with white flowers, under a blue sky with clouds.

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A smiling sun with rays extending outward, drawn in yellow.

“The Adventures of Bandit and Pablo.”

Woman with red hair smiling while holding an orange tabby cat outdoors.

A yellow smiling sun illustration with rays extending outward.

My stories are informed by my clinical experience AND my personal experiences.

Yellow hand-drawn smiling sun with rays extending outward.

Yes, adoption can be hard… but it also has so much joy, love and perseverance wrapped all around it too!

Not only am I a licensed therapist who has worked with clients on adoption issues for many years, I’m an adopted child myself and adoptive parent as well.

Join me as I…