QUIET STREET

This story of an adoption reads easily -- no very difficult words, no unnecessary lumps in throats. Lisa, who is the only small child on her street, would like a sister, so she asks her mother for one, but as much as her mother would like to oblige, ""Babies are harder to grow than gardens"". When a new building is completed at the end of Lisa's street, she is on hand opening day. Among the many children who move in there, Amy seems like a perfect playmate. She tells Lisa that she is waiting for a family. Lisa's parents have thought of adoption before and now they think again. The story continues with the almost universal next steps -- application, waiting period, trial period and permanent adoption. The story is simple and its straightforwardness commendable. It does not milk those ever ready lachryma glands and avoids the orphan vocabulary -- waif, homeless, loveless etc. The illustrations back the story well. This is one of those special stories that can help out in special situations. While orphans abound in children's literature, the quiet approach to adoption does not.