Mama One, Mama Two by Patricia MacLachlan

This a children's book for foster children.  It's kind of sad, but older foster children who miss their parents ARE sad, and this book will validate their feelings and maybe help them understand.

In this story, Maudie lives in a foster home.  She wakes in the night when another foster child, a baby, cries, and she gets up to comfort him.  Katherine, the foster mother, walks in with a bottle, and Maudie asks if she can feed him.  They curl up on Maudie's bed, and Maudie asks Katherine to tell her the story of  "Mama One, Mama Two" for the second time that day.  Katherine suggests they both tell it.  Together, they tell the story of Maudie's mama, Mama One, who gets so sad, she has to go away for help.  They tell about the social worker who took Maudie to Mama Two's house.  And they tell about Mama Two, who made Maudie's room her own with special paint and decorations, and how Maudie learns to help care for the baby and make pancakes, among other things.

The books cover says this book is "the story of Mama One's little girl, who misses her.  It's the story of Mama Two, who will love the little girl and be there until Mama One comes back."

This isn't the book for a child adopted from foster care.  It made my daughter cry, and I had to put it away so she wouldn't come across it again.  But it is a sweet book for a foster mother and foster daughter to read together while there is still hope of returning home.  These books are rare and hard to find.