Reviews for
Borya and the Burps
The August, 2008 edition of Adoptive Families magazine lists Borya as one of the “must have” picture books for young children. Here is their list…span
- Happy Adoption Day by John McCutcheon
- We Wanted You by Liz Rosenburg
- Borya and the Burps by Joan McNamara
- Motherbridge of Love by Xinran
- Horace by Holly Keller
- Every Year on Your Birthday by Rose Lewis
- Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies by Ann Turner
- In My Heart by Molly Bang
- Megan’s Birthday Tree by Laurie Lears
- My Mei Mei by Ed Young
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I have to admit that this is my absolute favorite adoption book on the market. Borya and the Burps: An Eastern European could have been drawn from pictures of the three of us the day we went to meet AJ for the very first time, so it holds a special place in my heart. Borya and the Burps: An Eastern European Adoption Story in my opinion, is one of the first children’s books to (almost) accurately portray an Eastern European adoption. There are adoption advocates out there who will say that children may be frightened by Borya’s perspective of the orphanage and what is going on around him but those things are very real to a child. For example, Borya wonders where the other baby went and if he will be all right (Borya’s tummy hurt all night.During times of high stress AJ has tummy issues still. ), Borya is frightened his new Daddy will give him a shot like the other male who does in the orphanage (AJ loved males because he never saw them. He loved his male doctor and he loved Eric. He hated women and was scared of them because he was constantly disciplined and medicated by them, thus he was afraid of me.), and when the caretaker tells Borya that his new mommy and daddy are here to get him he responds with confusion and fear (what child would not be fearful of strangers and of leaving the only place they have ever known? Every child who has ever gone through this situation would certainly understand that.).
The book basically tells the story of how a couple go to an Eastern European country, go to an orphanage, find their child, go to court, and then return to their home. As simplistic as it is it does explain what the orphanage is like for a child, how court can be daunting, and how the process is emotional for everyone involved.
Marcie Pickelsimer
A Child Is Chosen Blog, March 6, 2008
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Written by adoptive parent, advocate, and activist Joan McNamara, Borya And The Burps: An Eastern European Adoption Story is a children’s picturebook that tells of the experience of international adoption from a very young child’s point of view. Bright colorful illustrations by Dawn W. Majewski enhance the simple narration about little Borya, a boy still in diapers, and the bond he felt with other children at the orphanage, until one day a strange couple came to adopt him. Borya And The Burps gently reflects on the great and sometimes traumatic change of making the transition from orphanage to adoptive family, but is ultimately a positive story about forming new bonds and adapting to change. Highly recommended, especially as a means to help young people understand about international adoption, and the special challenges that being adopted across national borders brings.
Midwest Book Review’s “Childen’s Bookshelf” August 2005
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Borya is a little boy living in an Eastern-European orphanage, where everything is orderly and safe. Borya knows how many white cribs are arrayed around his own, he�s used to the smells, and he knows when his bottle will arrive. When Borya burps after drinking his bottle, all is right in his world.Borya�s comfortable routine is disrupted by the arrival of people who speak a different language and who take away one of the children. Borya wonders where the baby went and who will care for her. Confused, he doesn�t feel like burping that night.Soon after, another couple comes to the orphanage to take him away. Borya is subjected to a whirlwind of unfamiliar experiences: the arrival of strangers who cry and smile simultaneously, a car trip, and a court proceeding. He gradually begins to accept his new parents and, when he signals his comfort by releasing an enormous burp in court, the judge seals the adoption. Soon after, Borya goes home to the security of his own forever family.Written by Joan McNamara, an adoptive parent, social worker, and adoption advocate, Borya and the Burps makes it clear that, while adoption is a joyous event for the parents, it can be a confusing, even frightening, event for the child. The author effectively uses repetitive text to describe the comfort a child derives from predictable routines and familiar surroundings. And by seeing the adoption process from a child�s perspective, readers perceive the range of emotions a child experiences when his world is turned upside down.
Appropriate for children ages 3 to 8, Borya and the Burps will delight children with its rhythmic prose and colorful pictures, not to mention its burps! Adoptive parents, parents-to-be, and teachers will revel in the book’s sensitive, child-centered perspective. One of the few books about Eastern-European adoption told from a child’s point of view, Borya will introduce young children to the adoption process and the emotions surrounding it. For families adopting slightly older children, it offers opportunities to gently explore the emotions, perceptions, and recollections of their children’s own adoption experiences.
Borya and the Burps is a lovely story that acknowledges the differences between parents’ and children’s experiences of adoption, and speaks to the need to integrate a child’s past and present. It’s a must-have for the bookshelf of every adoptive family!
Sue Gainor, adoptive parent, national board mrmber Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption
in Adoptive Families magazine, June, 2005
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 HeartSummer, 2005 newsletter
Did you realize that even a baby or a toddler adopted from an orphanage may experience confusion as his routine of bottles, burps, diaper changes, and cuddling, is changed and he begins life with a new family that speaks a language that is strange to him? Babies that share a room may even become confused when one of them leaves with “strangers.” Written from a baby’s point of view, the charming story follows Borya’s routine in an Eastern European orphanage and the changes he experiences before and after he goes home to begin life with his new “Mama-Papa.”I loved this book! Even though it’s geared towards children, the book brought to my attention some issues that had never even occurred to me. I highly recommend this book for all families considering adopting from an orphanage
Karen LedbetterAdoption Editor, BellaOnline.com
Borya is an infant boy, probably 9 to 15 months old, and is the main character in this adventure describing a typical Eastern European adoption. Through Borya’s perspective, the reader learns that he was in an orphanage “because their first parents could not be families for them,” that he shared a room with seven other babies, they were fed milk regularly, held when burped, and at night they were sung to by an older caretaker. While the caretakers were looking after them, other orphanage workers were working to find families for them. The book describes Borya’s leaving the orphanage and going home as well.
The author, Joan McNamara, is no stranger to adoption. She has worked in the adoption community for forty years and is the parent of 13 children, 11 through adoption and foster care. Joan McNamara has filled two needs, writing an adoption book from the child’s perspective and even more uncommon, writing a children’s adoption book based on Eastern European adoptions.The age range for this book is probably age three to beginning readers. The publisher recommends using the book as an introduction for younger children and an opportunity to open the door to talk with older children about their adoption. There is even a guide for how to use the book to talk about adoption on the publisher’s web site. This book may easily become a FRUA family favorite and may also become an adoption day anniversary tradition.
Lisa Glasgow
FRUA DC Times, April, 2005
You don’t know how often I get requests for a book like this- I would call this I Love You Like Crazycakes for the Russian set!
Eileen Delaney
Adoptive parent through Russia
FRUA DC Email Volunteer
This is wonderful! I don’t think that Borya and the Burps! should be limited to Eastern European families though, as it well describes the issues from any child’s perspective. The focus on the burping certainly appeals to children’s sense of “potty-talking” and love of bodily functions! Great book!
Debbie Borchers, MD
Adoptive parent,
Pediatrician with special interest in International Adoption Medicine
Cincinnati, OH
Oh, how I’ve waited for Borya and the Burps! As a parent, I have searched for a children’s book that tenderly describes that very special moment when parents and children are joined together as a family through international adoption. As a professional, I have waited for a book that honors the care given to our children in their homeland as they waited for forever families. Joan McNamara has written the book! Joan’s descriptions of Borya’s beginnings and his journey to a forever family are thoughtful and comforting. Without ignoring the confusion he experiences, Joan quietly emphasizes that it is often the smallest things that matter the most when helping a child to adjust. The familiar smells of milk, blue blankets and teddy bears help Borya to know he is home and he is safe.With love, respect, and just the right amount of humor, Joan McNamara has given a special gift to so many families who have adopted from Eastern Europe. She has truly captured the heart of the story and is filling a great void in adoption literature.Valorie Parent
Adoptive parent of two children from Russia
Adoption Social Worker
And Chairperson, Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoptions of New England
There are many excellent and reassuring picture books for internationally adopted children that support a young listener’s need for a “just like me!” story. Themes of loss, longing and love speak to the universal experience of children coming to their “forever families”. Unless you adopted from China or Korea, however, the illustrations usually do not match. Joan McNamara’s charming picture book is set in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. Borya watches and wonders about the changes around him. The baby who shares his crib leaves, but his caregiver is still there to change and feed him. The thousands of children adopted from Eastern European countries will see a child “just like me!” in both story and pictures of Borya and the Burps.
Cynthia VN Peck
Author and Editor (Roots & Wings/AdoptionToday, Fostering Families Today)
Adoptive Parent, Social Worker, Advocate, 2004 Angel in Adoption Award Winner
Wonderfully written from the child’s perspective, this endearing story follows baby Borya from the Eastern European orphanage he calls home, to the arrival of his new “Mama-and-Papa”, and through their early days together.Children and adults alike will easily identify with Joan McNamara’s humorous take on the sometimes scary and confusing changes which takes place at the time of adoption. Each will want to read it over and over again as Borya and the Burps will delight and empower adopted children everywhere.
Denise Harris Hoppenhauer
Author, Adopting A Toddler: What Size Shoes Does She Wear?
Adoptive Parent, Advocate, International Adoption Coordinator
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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