A Mother for Choco

Today's book is a sweet, heart-warming story of a bird on an adventure. It is also a story of adoption.

Choco is a bird who lives all alone, and he goes in search of his mother. He asks a variety of animals who share some of his features if they are his mother. Disappointingly, they all point out that they have many features that are different, and so they can't possibly be his mother. Until he meets Mrs. Bear. She shows Choco that even though she looks nothing like him, she can still do all of the things a mother would do. Choco finds a home filled with the features that matter most of all -- love and laughter...and apple pie. :)

Originally published in 1982 and in this format in 1992 (G.P. Putnam's Sons), the themes in this story will hold up through the ages. Keiko Kasza gently and beautifully approaches the idea of adoption without hitting the reader over the head with a lesson. She doesn't vilify the animals who say no to Choco -- in fact, most of them are concerned. But she shows that the warmth and tenderness -- not appearance -- that Mrs. Bear displays are all that Choco needs.

Any family should read this story of inclusion. And if you have friends or loved ones who are adoptive parents or in the adoption process, this would make a meaningful addition to their library.

~Jen