Anne Braff Braff BrodzinskyThe Mulberry Bird: An Adoption Story

The Mulberry Bird would be most appropriate for your family if you have a fairly closed international adoption where the birthmother took care of the child for a while before relinquishing him/her. It would not be as applicable in an open adoption situation or where the child was relinquished at birth. The story itself is fairly contrived and very sad. The mother bird really loves her baby bird but after many weeks she realizes she cannot keep her son safe by herself (the father bird flew out of the picture before the baby bird even hatched). She visits the wise old owl for help and he suggests that she give her child up for adoption. Does he help her by returning her baby to the nest or by finding food for it? No, the ONLY option the owl presents the mother bird is to give her baby bird up for adoption to a faraway bird family (of a different species) and to say good-bye to him forever. She reluctantly agrees but always loves her baby bird even though she is no longer with him. The baby bird forgets all about his life with his birthmother. This story may be a good discussion starting point for some adopted children, but it just as easily could give them nightmares. This book was so heartwrenching it caused my four-year-old daughter to sob quite hard after we read it, so hard that I could not even discuss the book with her. I am going to wait a couple of years before I try reading it with her again, if at all. Worst of all, the story only somewhat applies to her life, and I worry about what images the book has put into her head. Now I must endeavor to clean up any erroneous ideas that the Mulberry Bird Book gave her and to help her understand that her own story has both similarities and major differences.

It is a good story.Long for a little (4 or less) person. 5.5 up is good. I would recommend it to others. Need more decent stories about kids adopted from foster care.

Being an adopted child can leave scars of abandonment and many unanswered questions.The Mulberry Bird tells the specifics in a much gentler way for the child to understand why such a process happened.I would highly recommend this book for anyone considering adding a child to their family through adoption. My two adopted children rated this book as a 5 star one themselves.

Excellent way to help an adopted child learn how he became adoptable

Very touching. I read it to my 3 year old grandchild and she was just touched that a new/different mom would help a mom to care for her baby when she couldn't do it herself. Amazing to me that she grasped the concept!

The best book to help my son understand the concept of adoption as a baby!!! We read it for years at bedtime!!!

A wonderful way to explain adoption to anyone, and to let them know that it was done out of love!

All four of my adopted children love this book. It has not negatively affected them and they don't have nightmares about it. It is one of the better adoption books out there.

Super book x

Lovely book for any child particularly those who have been adopted. Explaining birth parent situation, Gives a secure warm feeling