The Missing Piece - by Megan K Palmer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Missing Piece is a Mom's Choice Awards(R) Gold Recipient.

A heartwarming story of child adoption and the different ways loving families are created.

A loving family works together on a puzzle when an important piece is nowhere to be found. As the mother, father, and three children search high and low through cupboards, on bookshelves, outside, each and every day, it becomes apparent that they are waiting for the missing piece, hoping and loving that it will come along. And when it does, the overjoyed family is finally complete.

The Missing Piece is perfect for adoptive families, birth families, and anyone wanting to introduce young children to adoption with sensitivity and care. This story offers a simple, metaphor that helps toddlers and preschoolers understand belonging, connection, and hope.

Review Quotes

The Missing Piece is a recipient of the prestigious Mom's Choice Award. The Mom's Choice Awards(R) (MCA) evaluates products and services created for parents and educators and is globally recognized for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. Using a rigorous evaluation process, entries are scored on a number of elements including production quality, design, educational value, entertainment value, originality, appeal and cost. Around the world, parents, educators, retailers and members of the media trust the MCA Honoring Excellence seal when selecting quality products and services for families and children.

"A softly woven narrative with a lasting emotional resonance.

A family gathers around a puzzle-only to discover that one important piece is missing in Palmer's compelling picture book. "Working on our family puzzle, we looked all around... We were missing an important piece nowhere to be found." Day after day, they search "high and low, over and under," but the piece never appears. Slowly, the search becomes something deeper: a quiet act of waiting. "Searching, searching, searching... Waiting, waiting, waiting... Hoping, hoping, hoping... All the while, loving, loving, loving." Palmer gently frames adoption with tenderness, honoring both love and loss. The emotional turning point arrives with quiet certainty: "We were meant to find each other; the missing piece was you!" Palmer's rhythmic, soothing prose pairs seamlessly with Emily Hurst Pritchett's soft, expressive illustrations, which use warm tones and intimate family scenes to emphasize connection and joy. The recurring puzzle imagery offers a clear, accessible metaphor that resonates long after the final page. A gentle, affirming tale about adoption, belonging, and the love that makes a family whole.

A valuable addition to library collections addressing family diversity with warmth and clarity." -The Prairies Book Review

"The Missing Piece is a picture book that tackles the question of a missing family member. An already-happy family searches for the missing piece in their lives just as a birth mother searches for just the right family for her forthcoming child. Searching and waiting are two themes in these two different families and the puzzle that dominates their worlds until they join together unexpectedly. Each is "hoping, hoping hoping" even as they are "loving, loving, loving." Emily Hurst Pritchett embellishes these experiences with exceptionally alluring photos of individuals whose faces are alive with emotion.

Plenty of picture books have addressed adoption - usually from the perspective of a wondering child. This is the first to create a dual perspective of the adoptive family and the birth mother, weaving a tale of anticipation, love, and togetherness into a bigger picture of acceptance, giving, and joy. Libraries and read-aloud parents will find The Missing Piece's approach and positivity supersedes many other adoptive tales, placing it above and beyond most, in a category of its own." -D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review