TELL ME A REAL ADOPTION STORY

An author long concerned with adoption issues creates a fictional model of the importance of candid discussion with young adoptees about their origins. When the child here asks for ``an adoption story,'' Mommy tells tales about a fisherman and his wife and of a king and queen who find babies; still, the child demands ``a real story...about me.'' Finally complying, Mommy describes what might have been a private adoption. She and Daddy met the ``other mother,'' who ``looked very much like you''; all three wept when the infant was handed over. Though they don't know where the birth mother is now, the story ends with the possibility of renewed contact. A good introduction to the critically important emotions inherent in adoption, effectively illustrated in orderly, sensitive art in quietly glowing colors. Jacket note to parents. (Picture book. 4-8)