MOMMY GO AWAY!
by Lynne Jonell & illustrated by Petra Mathers
Jonell turns the tables on parental authority and childlike obedience in a terrific story of a boy and his mother. ``Pick up your blocks,'' ``No more T.V.,'' and ``Time for your bath'' are the phrases that set off a small boy's protests. Christopher declares, ``Go away, Mommy!'' and offers his toy boat for her to ride in. She protests that she's too large, and so, ``Be small,'' he commands. She obligingly shrinks and is set afloat in the tub, where she expresses a list of fears about what's happening to her. Several other mothers appear in a small motorboat on the bathwater horizon, and Christopher admonishes her to have a good time, remember her manners, and don't hit the others. He endearingly reassures her that he will help her; the mother, once restored to size, sighs that it is hard to be small. ``I know that already,'' Christopher replies. Mathers uses the simplest of illustration styles: The people are almost stick figures—but their postures are wonderfully expressive—and the scenes, intentionally naive yet showing intelligent composition, resemble children's crayon scrawls, done with flat perspectives. A highly original book that will strike a chord in every child's experience, and one that parents will enjoy immensely. (Picture book. 2-6)