Our adopted baby boy was used to taking very short naps in the living room with his foster family and wasn't a very good napper at 10 mo. old.
We just started putting him in his crib for naps after he was home with us about a week. We put on a cd playing of classical music, spritzing the sheets with Lavender/Vanilla sleep aromatherapy spray from Bath/Body works (lol it works!), and his twisty-bug rattle and a beanie baby dog the he loves. I would hug/kiss and tell him Nite Nite and leave the room. We did the Dr Ferber method - just let him talk/gibber/cry for 5 mins, then come back, reassure him and tell him Go to Sleep, Nitey Nite and leave the room again. If it happened again, we'd stay out 10 mins. And if a 3rd time--stay out 15 mins, then come back....
I think it was really only a couple times that we had to go back in the room 1-2 times to pat him and talk to him...I just kept his nap time consistently the same every day, made sure to watch his cues--if he started getting "blinky" or rubbing his eyes, get him up in the crib without delay and consistently did the same routine, and reassured him we were nearby...and he turned into a great little napper!
Another book we got and read (as much of it as I could) that was recommended was "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", Dr Marc Weissbluth....very helpful book!
Hope this helps some...Good luck!