In recent years more children have been adopted from Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Bloc countries than from any other region of the world. Yet until now, there have been no picture books designed to tell their stories of finding a forever family through adoption.

Long time social worker Joan McNamara has ably filled that gap with a new children's book that acknowledges the sense of security and comfort that many children have with the "familiar" in their daily life in an orphanage compared to the unknowns of a new adoptive family. This delightful book gently illustrates some of the confusion children feel when they are removed from the multiple caretakers and groups of children whom they know within their (often deprived) orphanages and are moved into a loving but unfamiliar new family with a sensory-enriched (but possibly overwhelming) home environment. With their whole world turned upside down, children are still able to struggle to make sense of these changes and ultimately blossom within a new family, with a parent or parents who will be theirs forever.

Although Borya and the Burps! is one of the very first books on international adoption from Eastern Europe to be widely available to families, families who have adopted from other regions of the world may find this story valuable as well. Simple comments from parents while reading about what was the same and what was different for their child can personalize this story. Adoption of children from orphanage care does share some common themes and situations in all parts of the world, and thus parents can share this story with their children irregardless of where their child's orphanage was or will be located.

A good introduction for young, recently arrived children, this unique book will also become an often-used conversation starter for slightly older children ready to talk about their prior lives, their prior caretakers and companions, and what adoption has meant in their young lives.

Borya and the Burps! fillsl a big hole for families who adopt from Eastern Europe.

This book is a wonderful portrayal of Eastern European adoption from the child's point of view. Showing that even though the adoption is a joyous event it can often be confusing and a little frightening for a child. This is one of the few books about Eastern-European adoptions. A must have for the bookshelf of every adoptive family!

--Adoptions from the Heart Summer, 2005 newsletter

Joan McNamara and Perspectives Press, Inc. produced a real gem. At last, children adopted from Eastern Europe have a book, and a truly lovely one, that addresses their origins. Author Joan McNamara's lyrical voice and cadence will surely engage these young readers. Borya's experience is their story. It depicts a birth country with adults who recognized and satisfied their needs. Orphanage caregivers doted on them, while others relentlessly searched for and found the "forever family" they now have. Ms. McNamara's insight and sensitivity imbue another important layer of this book. Borya is the boy in the middle crib. He is the center of his universe, and for him, this world is perfectly normal. Adults have the rare opportunity of sharing Borya's perceptions, through his very senses, as loss, change and concomitant fear undermine his security. Likewise, children will feel Borya's restored confidence when, in his new home, he is once again safely in the middle, this time flanked by teddy bears and parents. Indeed, anyone adopting internationally will benefit from this wise and delightful book. Borya and the Burps is a gift to adoption.

--Amy Rackear, LMSW Adoption social worker, writer and mother of a child from Russia Past president of RESOLVE NYC and former board member of New York-FRUA Editorial Advisory Board, Adoptive Families magazine

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