Mishka: An Adoption Tale

small_mishkaMishka: An Adoption Tale.

Written by Adrienne Ehlert Bashista; illustrated by Miranda R. Mueller; hardcover, 32 pages; illus; ISBN 978-1-933084-01-5; $16.95; Nov. 2007

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Mo lives high on a shelf in an airport gift shop. All day he watches as families walk past. He can’t help but feel lonely. Mo wants a family. He wants a home. Then one day Mo’s wish for a family comes true as a special couple take him on a marvelous journey to meet his new best friend, Yuri. Mo has lots of questions once he gets to his destination. Where is he? What’s a mishka? And most importantly, will the man and the woman who brought him and Yuri together come back? Will Mo ever have a family of his own?   

Reviews:

“Through Mo, Adrienne Ehlert Bashista expresses the longing and confusion that may surround an older child’s adoption, particularly during the wait between meeting his new parents and going home. Mishka: An Adoption Tale (DRT Press), with illustrations by Miranda Mueller, will be a wonderful addition to your bookshelf, and it is an excellent companion to Bashista’s first book, When I Met You.” – Adoptive Families magazine

“We loved Mishka: An Adoption Tale. This uniquely insightful tale provides a tool for parents and children alike to express and understand how it feels during that wonderfully scary time of completing the adoption process. Mishka’s questions are every adopted child’s: Where are we? Are we home? Where are you going? Are you ever coming back? It so closely paralleled the thoughts and feelings of our own adoption it was amazing. Destined to become a classic in adoption literature, Mishka is a must read for every child adopted from Russia.” — Denise Hoppenhauer, AdoBaby, and author, Adopting a Toddler

“I have fallen in love with Mo and Yuri, Bashista’s newest characters in Mishka, an Adoption Tale. Bashista seems to have become an expert at choosing the simplest of words and themes to convey adoption’s deepest messages to children. The soft, sweet illustrations work with the story allowing children to understand the feelings of adoption through the eyes of teddy bear Mo. This allows children who have experienced an adoption a safe way to see themselves and their adoption journey in Mo. They too may learn what Mo learns on the last page, “I’m right where I belong.” Thank you to the author and illustrator for creating a quality adoption book for children and families everywhere.” –Carrie Craft, About.com Adoption Editor