A Mom for Umande

First, I must disclose that I have an attachment to the story in that one of my relatives worked at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo when Umande was born and was one of his primary caregivers during the entire time Umande was in Colorado Springs. I have never met the author and know virtually nothing about her, though, so my bias is toward the story not the author.This is a children's story so it is a very, very simplified version of Umande's story. It has to be or it would be too much for young readers. But, suffice to say, there were many, many more people other than the four mentioned in the book who devoted hundreds of hours of their personal lives and time to teach Umande to be a proper gorilla. The problem with Umande's mom wasn't her age as the book indicates, it was the fact that mothering is a learned behavior for gorillas and she had never learned. So, as hard as the keepers and vet worked to teach Umande how to be a gorilla, they worked equally hard to teach Kwisha to be a mother. Unfortunately, they weren't successful in teaching Kwisha in time for Umande to be raised by her but they successfully got Umande to the point where he could have a gorilla mom. One of the things this book glosses over is that if Umande didn't learn the proper way to behave, he would never be accepted by another troop.For Ms. Faulconer, the point of the story is the ultimate "adoption" of Umande. And, that is a beautiful, poignant story. However, for me, an equally important story is the thousands of hours that anonymous people put into getting Umande to the point where he COULD be adopted. In fact, the majority of the book is devoted to exactly this, although she only talks about four of the people involved.This book would make an excellent gift for an adopted child or adoptive family. However, I have purchased a number of them to give to coaches and teachers as thank you gifts. Just like Umande's story where he needed so many people to teach him how to be a well-behaved gorilla, human kids need many people to teach them to be productive and successful humans. And, just like the vast majority of the people who worked with Umande to teach him proper gorilla behavior so he would be accepted by his new mom and new troop were never recognized for their roll in his success, most people who work with kids do it without any recognition. This book is a wonderful way to say thank you to them.

Read this book at the library numerous times and finally decided to buy it. It is a nice story that for whatever reason really grabbed my 2 year old granddaughter. Nice illustrations and a good story

This is a wonderful children's story of a baby gorilla who was born at the Colorado Springs Zoo to a young mother who didn't know how to be a mom. Zookeepers did their best, and finally found Umande a surrogate mom at the Columbus, Ohio, zoo. It's a heartwarming TRUE story about what love is, and why we all, even little gorillas, need a mom. The illustrations are delightful. You will enjoy reading this story to children, and it will delight the child in you.

A "really good book" according to my 4 year old, monkey and ape crazy, granddaughter. Sad at the beginning but a happy ending. We read it at the library but her parents were in the middle of moving so they didn't want to keep track of a library book. I sent it to her and she hasn't stopped sharing it with her friends. It is a true story with a nice emotional hook.

This is a wonderful book! I donated it to my grandchildren's school library and it became the most checked out book. Maris has a gift for words and it shows in this beautifully written book. The illustrations are great also,

Bought this for two kids I sit for and my two grandkids, ages 2-6. Beautiful book; however, I had to explain why Umande's mom couldn't take care of her. Highly recommend though.

Such a sweet book. Great for our family who just adopted a daughter. <3

A MOM FOR UMANDE is a lovely story. The book cover sets the stage beautifully.It stuck me that it would be a great classroom read-outloud.