Captures a mother’s love simply and effectively.
Mothers express their love in many ways.
As the sun rises, a child narrator describes their day with Mom: “We start our day / with a kiss.” “Mommy buttons, zips, and snaps.” “Through the market, holding hands / Stop at all our favorite stands.” Throughout, illustrations feature a variety of mothers and children. The day ends with a mom tucking a child into bed, “Love you always and forever.” On each spread, the verso features text set against a solid background, accompanied by an image on the recto. The artwork emphasizes the mother’s focus on her child, thin pencil-like lines carefully outlining facial expressions. Parent-child love is familiar subject matter for books aimed at toddlers, but this one offers a more diverse and inclusive representation of moms than that seen in previous books. One tan-skinned mom wears a hijab, another is East Asian, and another presents as Black. Mothers and children of color are spotlighted throughout, including on the front cover. The rhyming text makes for a quality read-aloud for a toddler and really showcases the care tasks of parenthood that ultimately speak to deep love. Though bookshelves are crowded with similar titles, this one is worth making room for. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Captures a mother’s love simply and effectively. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781338359770
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt.
A love song from parents to their child.
This title will seem quite similar to the many others about parents’ deep love for their children. The text is wholly composed of first-person declarations of parental love, and it’s juxtaposed with illustrations of the child with one or both parents. It’s not always clear who the “I” speaking is, and there are a few pages that instead use “we.” Most sentences begin with “I love you more” phrasing to communicate that nothing could undermine parental love: “I love you more than all the sleepless nights…and all the early, tired mornings.” The accompanying pictures depict the child as a baby with weary parents. Later spreads show the child growing up, and the phrasing shifts away from the challenges of parenting to its joys and to attempts to quantify love: “I love you more than all the blades of grass at the park…and all the soccer that we played.” Throughout, Bell’s illustrations use pastel tones and soft visual texture to depict cozy, wholesome scenes that are largely redundant of the straightforward, warm text. They feature a brown-haired family with a mother, father, and child, who all appear to be white (though the father has skin that’s a shade darker than the others’).
It’s nothing new, but it’s also clearly heartfelt. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0652-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an...
A little boy exults in his new role as big brother.
Rhyming text describes the arrival of a new baby and all of the big brother’s rewarding new duties. He gets to help with feedings, diaper changes, playtime, bathtime, and naptime. Though the rhyming couplets can sometimes feel a bit forced and awkward, the sentiment is sweet, as the focus here never veers from the excitement and love a little boy feels for his tiny new sibling. The charming, uncluttered illustrations convincingly depict the growing bond between this fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, smiling pair of boys. In the final pages, the parents, heretofore kept mostly out of view, are pictured holding the children. The accompanying text reads: “Mommy, Daddy, baby, me. / We love each other—a family!” In companion volume I Am a Big Sister, the little boy is replaced with a little girl with bows in her hair. Some of the colors and patterns in the illustrations are slightly altered, but it is essentially the same title.
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an older sibling can do to help. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-68886-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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