A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info.: The Penguin Group, 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a yellow bird named Choco. Choco is very sad because he does not have a mother. He asks several different animals if they will be his mother. They all say no because they do not look like Choco; they do not have wings, they are not yellow, and they do not have chubby cheeks. Choco finally meets Mrs. Bear and she asks him why he is sad. When she finds out the problem, she offers to be his mother. Choco does not think this will work because he looks nothing like Mrs. Bear. Mrs. Bear invites Choco to her house for some apple pie and to meet her other children. When Choco arrives, he is surprised to see that Mrs. Bear has a pig, alligator, and hippo for her children. Choco learns that when it comes to having a mother, looks do not matter, only love matters. Choco ends up being very happy in his new home.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! This is a very sweet book. Choco shows readers that not everyone has a mother, but some are fortunate enough to find someone who will love them like a mother. The illustrations in this book are very cute and young readers will fall in love with Choco. He will melt your heart and the ending will make readers happy for him.

Reading Level: 2.2

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book would be great to use during a unit that focuses on families. This would be the perfect reading material to use when talking about how families are all different; some only have moms, some only have dads, some only have grandparents, and some are families through adoption. This could also cover social studies and how families live and work together. Writing could also be integrated with this book. Children could be encouraged to illustrate and write about their own families.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems with this book.