WHAT MOMMIES LIKE

Name: WHAT MOMMIES LIKE
Author: Judy Carey Nevin
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0528-4

by Judy Carey Nevin ; illustrated by Stephanie Six ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018

This duo is sure to reflect some of what readers’ own mommies enjoy and to possibly give them ideas for additional ways to...

bookshelf

This sequel to What Daddies Like (2017) gives mommies their due.

In this second outing for Nevin and Six, an anthropomorphic mother-child bear pair spends the day together. “Mommies like big hugs. / Mommies like kisses. // Mommies like ‘Good morning to you!’ // Mommies like field trips. / Mommies like bike rides. // Mommies like the library, too.” The child rides a two-wheeler behind Mommy (both wear helmets) to the library, where they join other parents and children (including one in a wheelchair) for some organized (but sometimes loud—“hullabaloo” is rhymed with “kazoo,” which they play on the way home) activities. Drumming, cooking and eating together, reading, baths, cuddles, and “you” round out the things mommies love. This book is one best shared in an intimate setting, as Six’s illustrations include delightful but tiny details: Mommy loses her enthusiasm for her spaghetti dinner as her cub chatters on about worms. As in the title dedicated to dads, the stocky bears have big noses and the tiniest of ears (some readers may not identify them as bears at all), and the gender of the child is ambiguous.

This duo is sure to reflect some of what readers’ own mommies enjoy and to possibly give them ideas for additional ways to spend time together. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: April 10, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4998-0528-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little Bee Books

Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL KIDS ARE GOOD KIDS
by Judy Carey Nevin ; illustrated by Susie Hammer

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT DADDIES LIKE
by Judy Carey Nevin ; illustrated by Stephanie Six

bookshelf

CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

bookshelf

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

bookshelf

HOW TO CATCH A MAMASAURUS

From the How To Catch… series

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024

A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.

bookshelf

Another creature is on the loose.

The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.