A book for children growing up in adoptive and foster families

Petra Pávková

 

One day when the trees turned golden, Mother Bear gave birth to a baby bear.
He was beautiful! He had gorgeous dark eyes and soft fur.
Mama Bear chose the prettiest name she knew. She named him Mojko.

Mama Bear loved her baby.
She knew that little bear cubs need a soft and cozy bed, tasty milk, to be warm and close to their mother who lovingly cares for them night and day.
Mama Bear looked after Mojko alone, with no one to help her.
She tried to take care of him as best she could but it wasn’t enough.
Soon it was too much for her. She often got very tired.

One day, Mother Bear found big red flowers full of golden pollen in the forest.
Although she knew that she shouldn’t lick the pollen off the red flowers, she decided to try it.
Mama Bear licked the pollen and immediately felt better!
Her worries were gone, she wanted to sing and dance and she was happier than ever before.

The wonderful feeling, however, didn’t last long. So Mother Bear went to search for the pollen of the red flowers again.
And so it was that she left home for days and just wandered around the forest looking for more and more red flowers that would make her feel better.

She would leave Mojko alone for a long time.
He often cried, was hungry, cold and afraid that his mother would never come back.
Mojko also thought that his mother left him alone because he was naughty.
He feared that something was wrong with him, so he tried his best to be good. But it wasn’t his fault!
Mojko was still the same sweet and clever little bear!

Mother Bear soon realized that she couldn’t be without the golden pollen from the red flowers.
Sometimes, however, the red flowers were nowhere to be found.
On such days Mama Bear was very sick. Her tummy ached and she felt dizzy.
She could no longer take good care of Mojko.

An old Wise Owl that watches over everything in the forest had been keeping an eye on Mama Bear and Mojko for some time.
And when the Wise Owl saw that something bad was happening, he thought of ways to fix it.
The Owl saw that Mama bear wasn’t looking after Mojko the way she should have.
He flew over to talk to Mojko.
It can happen sometimes that a Mama Bear cannot take care of her cub, and no little bear can look after himself or his mama.

The Wise Owl found a kind Rabbit in the forest who could take care of Mojko until a new family where Mojko could live forever was found.

Mojko took a liking to Auntie Rabbit right away.
She was very interested in what Mojko liked and enjoyed doing.
He had his bed at her place, she cooked tasty meals for him every day, and they played and learnt new things together.

Mojko was sad at first; he needed to know how his Mama Bear was doing.
Auntie Rabbit always hugged him at such times.
She was with him when he felt alone and when he didn’t know what would happen next.
Mojko wanted to stay with Auntie Rabbit forever, but that was not possible.

Meanwhile, the Wise Owl found Mojko a family of squirrels who wished to take care of him forever.
Mojko was scared.
He didn’t know what was in store for him with the squirrels, and he didn’t want to move again.
He wondered if his new family would be nice to him and love him.

One day, he met Mama and Daddy Squirrel.
They were nice and started playing with him.
They explained to Mojko that Auntie Rabbit could visit him and play with him sometimes.
Mojko liked this and started to look forward to living in his new home.

Mama and Daddy Squirrel took Mojko to their home and they became a family.
Mojko was happy never to be alone again, to have a new family where they cared for him and loved him.
Only sometimes did he think of Mama Bear.
That made him sad and he cried a little.
At such moments, Mama and Daddy Squirrel would always hug him and think of Mama Bear together with him.
They promised Mojko that if he ever wanted to see her, the Wise Owl would help them.

Mojko grew up to be a handsome bear with eyes and fur like Mama Bear, and a heart like the squirrels who loved him and would never stop loving him.

Can you find the animals that Mojko met?

Author: Petra Pávková
Illustration by: Martina Oujeská
2021

 

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