I Want My Mother (Joshua & Prudence Books) - Hardcover

Alona Frankel is the author and illustrator of over thirty titles for children, including the well-known Once Upon a Potty titles. Ms. Frankel's work has earned her a place on the Honor List of the International Board on Books for Young Children, several Parents Choice awards, and many additional honors and awards. She lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.

PreSchool-A young boy's mother leaves and he's sad. He loves her and wants her back. Instead, animals arrive, a new species on each page, each one a mother with a baby in tow. These creatures represent his mother's different traits: the dog is loyal, the lion is brave, the deer is quick, etc. Still, the child repeats, "I want MY mother." Finally she arrives, the full embodiment of all 10 traits, and the boy nestles in her arms. This book is repetitive to a fault. The stilted, predictable text reads exactly the same on each page; only the animal and its trait change. Although the beginning of a joke starts each page, "'Knock, knock.' 'Who's there?,'" the book's energy remains humorless and, ultimately, emotionless. The batiklike art has an old-fashioned feel. Simplified characters are outlined in white with different shades of solid muted colors used to define the created space. Unfortunately, the choice of a flat, pictureless background compounds the problems created in the text-every page is the same, with no detail, no action, simply solid pale pink. Most readers will be hard-pressed to endure the dull, lifeless text. For a book that plucks at a child's concern about finding a lost mother, stick with P. D. Eastman's classic, Are You My Mother? (Random, 1960).
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
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