Are You My Mother?
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Children's book review by Steve Barancik
Ages 2-7
A book about being lost...and found!
You'll understand if this book has a special place in my heart. It's the first book I remember being read to me.
A mama bird is sitting on her egg when the egg shakes. Mama realizes this means her child will shortly be here. "He will want to eat," she thinks.
So she flies away in search of food. While she's gone, her egg hatches. And this baby of hers, well, he's rather advanced.
You see, he knows he should have a mother. No one told him. He just knows. I mean, shouldn't every child?
And since she isn't here, he heads off in search of her, finding, in order,
- a kitten
- a chicken
- a dog, and
- a cow
...he asks each the same question:
Are You My Mother?
They all deny responsibility. So he asks,
- a boat
- a plane, and
- a backhoe
The backhoe's answer is to place him back in the nest, where Mom promptly returns with a worm. "Do you know who I am?" she asks.
Indeed, he does.
Are You My Mother?
It's a simple story, and Eastman takes his time telling it and telling it well. (It was one of the best selling books of the 20th century.) This is a comfort book, meant for telling and re-telling, meant to make a child feel secure in knowing that parents are there even when it seems they're not.
The book is published under a Dr. Seuss imprint, though you'll find the text much more straightforward and the drawings much less whimsical than Seuss's own. Like I said, Eastman supplies comfort and security, though not at the expense of some thrills. This newborn bird is out navigating his new world, remember!
Are You My Mother?
Just like my mom did!
Read more of Steve's children's book reviews.
Webmaster's note: Adoptive parents, author Keiko Kasza wrote a response to Are You My Mother? perfect for kids who aren't living with a birth mother and birth father. It's called, A Mother for Choco, and it's every bit as sweet and heartwarming as Eastman's book.
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