Mother Love

there's nothing like it

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I’ve got some picks that celebrate the power and sweetness of mother love. And if you’re looking for a good gift for a mother (or honestly anyone), fifteen years ago I got my first Line-A-Day.

This year I’ll complete my third. Each page has space for five years worth of entries, just a few lines a day. When I finish my third journal this May, I’ll have fifteen years of memories. I’ve tracked progress on manuscripts, book contracts, what we had for dinner, weddings, the birth of grandchildren, book launches, anniversaries, books I’m reading, travels, the ordinary and the extraordinary moments that make up a life. If our house was on fire, theses journals may just be what I’d grab . . . on to five picture books about mother love.

The Goose Egg by Liz Wong

An elephant named Henrietta loves quiet. She loves the lake, where she swims underwater, lost in her thoughts. But one day she bonks a piling and a goose egg falls out of its nest and onto her head. She think she has a goose egg bump, bandages it, and then one day “crack!” A baby goose hatches. It was a real goose egg! Henrietta hurries back to the nest but there’s no mother goose, and so she becomes the mother. Things are chaotic at first, but then she hatches a plan. She paints herself like a goose to teach the baby how to behave like a proper goose.

The illustrations are SO COOL! I’ll stop talking and show you.

I got teary when Henrietta showed Goose, “how to hang on, and how to let go,” something all parents have to learn. Goose perches on Henrietta’s trunk, hanging on, and then she’s off. She lets go, and so does Henrietta, who realizes she doesn’t like the quiet as much as she used to. But a year later, Goose returns with three babies, sigh.

No Bear Anywhere by Leah Gilbert

Don’t miss the end papers on this book, starting with the chaos of a morning kitchen with a toddler and young child as Mom gets them ready for a walk on Bear Creek Trail. On their hike, Bruin looks for a REAL bear. With brilliant page turns, Bruin gasps, “Mama, look! It’s a . . .” and you turn the page to see not a bear, but a new treasure like a pinecone. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the characters but seen by the reader, a Mama bear and her two babies follow. Along the way the humans lose a telescope, baby’s snacks, a water bottle and sunglasses, and the bears gather them up and try to return them without being seen. Suspense and humor make this one of those “read it again” read-alouds.

In the end, Bruin is sad that he never sees a bear, until he sees a big, huge, fuzzy . . . turn the page and it’s a puff ball (dandelion) he’s seen. Bruin keeps looking, finding acorns, sticks, rocks, chestnuts and baby ducklings. Meanwhile, Mama bear and her babies return all the things left on the trail. They were never seen, but Bruin and his mom and sibling had a great walk anyway. The humor continues on the final endpapers, don’t miss them.

Mommy Time by Monique James-Duncan, illustrated by Ebony Glenn

Told from the a baby’s perspective, mom wakes up sister, brushes her hair, and then they get dressed, have breakfast, drop sister at school and the day unfolds. They go to music class, the playground, grocery store and clean house. The whole time, baby is with Mommy and it’s the best. This is a really sweet book that celebrates all the little moments of a stay-at-home mom who loves being with her baby.

I love the illustrations of life in this specific family in this particular world, so familiar and yet with its own DNA. There were mirrors of the familiar, from playdates to grocery runs, and doors into what life looks like in a different family living in a different place. The family is African American, the little sister sleeps in a bonnet, Mom combs her “bushy hair,” and they walk past brownstones to school. What I love most is how this book celebrates all the times of the day when Mommy and baby get to be together.

A Mouthful of Minnows by John Hare

First of all, we have a snapping turtle named Alphonso. I love this. He eats by settling at the bottom of his pond, opening his mouth and using his unique, worm-shaped tongue as a lure. He gives it a wiggle and patiently waits, blending in to the moss-covered rocks so well it’s hard to tell he’s there. Eventually a small minnow swims into his gaping mouth, so small it doesn’t interest Alphonso. The minnow sees the big wriggling worm (tongue) and announces he’ll go get his friends to share it. Alphonso licks his chops. But when three tiny minnows return, they decide to bring the whole school, so Alphonso waits for the bigger snack. But then they decide to invite Big Betty to the worm feast because, “doggone it, it’s her birthday!”

Alphoso is getting pretty excited by this time. How is this a book about mother love, you ask? It turns out Big Betty is the school’s mother (and grandmother), and when Alphonso hears her excitement over being gathered with all her babies to share their food with her, he loses his appetite. He can’t eat this sweet family! Alphonso tucks in his tongue, and the fish swim away to find something else to eat, but that isn’t the end.

When they see another big worm, this time a real one on a fish hook, Alphonso stops them and in a big perspective shift we’re outside the pond watching as two unsuspecting people catch a snapping turtle with their fishing pole. Alphonso is okay with missing his meal because he’s got a new fish story to tell his friends. On the final page we learn some fascinating Alligator Snapping Turtle facts (they really do use their worm-shaped tongues to lure fish into their mouths!). Mother love is a powerful thing, and so is compassion.

Room on Top by Bruno Hachler and Laura D’Arcangelo

A baby anteater rides on his mother’s back. “It was the just the best, sitting on Mama’s back. Looking around. Loving life. Only he did feel a bit lonely sometimes . . .” The baby invites other critters to join him, so a badger, a duck, a hare, a squirrel, a frog (and his family), a snail, a fox, a woodpecker, a mole and a dormouse hop on. Each animal has their own reason for loving their spot on Mama’s back. It’s brighter, more roomy, more stylish, cozier, drier, faster, more practical, more comfortable, airier . . . then along comes a heron who plops on top. “How wobbly,” he squawks, and the tower of animals tumbles, everyone except baby anteater, who thinks about how “there’s no better place in the world. For baby anteaters at least . . .”

Translated from Swiss and illustrated with gouache and colored pencils, this book is not only a tribute to the patience required of a mother and her ability to carry many things (or creatures), it’s also beautiful and unique. I loved the sounds the animals make. When the frogs were sleeping in the pond, before jumping on Mama’s back, they make the typical, “zzz” and, “rrriibbitt” sounds but also, “hhonk-psschoo.” And to say, “I want to come, too,” the dormouse squeaks, “Fnnrrrooo! Fnnrrrooff!” I love this one.

---

Happy Little Things

• I heard a really good interview with Anne Lamott on the How I Write podcast. She talked about how when you experience writer’s block, you aren’t really blocked, you’re empty. What you need to do is, “take some time and fill up . . . pay attention, and accumulate bits of fabric for the quilt.”

• From the backseat on an early morning drive, my grandson said, “I wish I could taste the sky.” It bloomed in front of us, all pink and yellow and light blue. Then he said, “It would taste like pineapple, melon and blueberries.” River pays attention.

• I used scissors to cut through a darn good pizza in downtown São Miguel, an island in the Azores, Portugal. I am inspired to use scissors for food more often.

---

My name is Meredith Davis, and I’m an award winning writer of middle grade books, a former indie bookseller, founder of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Find teaching resources and author visit information on my website at www.meredithldavis.com. Mother to three, Nana to two, I live with my husband and a crazy doodle in Austin, Texas.