A Mama for Owen : re-addressing adoption creatively in an accordion of visual parallelism.

This article critically examines the concept of adoption through a semiotic and multimodal analysis of the children’s picture book *A Mama for Owen* (Bauer and Butler, 2007), which narrates the true story of Owen, a hippopotamus calf orphaned by a tsunami and cared for by Mzee, a male tortoise. The study applies stylistic tools traditionally used for textual analysis—specifically (partial) repetition and parallelism—to the visual mode, alongside frameworks of visual grammar and pictorial metaphor, to explore how the book creatively reconstructs adoption narratives emphasizing care, affection, and family beyond genetic or gender norms. Visual parallelism and repetition are identified as key semiotic strategies that structure the narrative’s progression and foster an inclusive understanding of family, while mitigating devices such as the use of humanized animals and softened visual modality create a safe space for children to engage with themes of loss and belonging. Ultimately, the article highlights picture books as powerful multimodal works that can challenge restrictive discourses on family and identity, promoting social change and enriched cognitive engagement with adoption.