Happy Sunday, kidlit friends! I tried to spend a restful week at home this weekend as I’m still recovering from this never-ending cold. This week, I review books for Mother’s Day and two fabulous new releases.
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Bookish Goods
Reading Mom and Child Sticker by ShelleyCouvillion
Children’s book illustrator Shelley Couvillion has the best Etsy store for buying Mother’s Day gifts. This is the sticker I’m eyeing for myself! $5
New Releases
Two Together by Brendan Wenzel
My six-year-old loves all of Brendan Wenzel’s picture books, and she was so excited to read one where a cat and dog are friends. A cat and dog are making their way home and encounter many wondrous things on their journey: a toad hopping away, a pear dangling from a tree, sparkling stars, and more. When a bear startles them, the two run away and become lost. Can they find their way home together? This is a super sweet picture book with Wenzel’s trademark whimsical illustrations.
Unhappy Camper by Lily LaMotte, illustrated by Ann Xu & Sunmi
The creators of Measuring Up return with this wonderful middle grade graphic novel about sisters and cultural identity and friendship. Claire and Michelle are sisters who are very close in age. While Claire embraces her Taiwanese American heritage, Claire would rather ignore it so she can fit in better with the “it” girls — who are all wealthy and white. When Claire becomes a camp counselor for a Taiwanese culture camp, their parents make Michelle attend the camp, too. Michelle does not want to go. She wants to spend the summer torturing herself by hanging out with the most popular girl in choir. But she has little choice. At camp, she learns how to speak Taiwanese, draw calligraphy, and sing Taiwanese songs. As the weeks go by, she finds herself enjoying camp despite her reservations, but a mean thing she did to her sister at the beginning of camp comes back to bite her. This is a very relatable graphic novel and would also be a great read during AAPI month in May.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Mother’s Day is in two weeks (May 12), so I wanted to get these new children’s books on your radar. There have been a lot of recent children’s books centering mother/child relationships. I’ve reviewed a lot on here already, but these are four I adored but have yet to review.
The Mommies on the Bus by Hannah Eliot, illustrated by Airin O’Callaghan
Board book readers love sing-along stories, and this one is absolutely delightful! It portrays a wide range of mothers and children as they journey on a city bus through the seasons. The words are to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”: “The mommies on the bus say “please sit down” all through the town.” It’s a lovely ode to mothers and public transportation. The illustrations are fantastic.
Mamá’s Panza by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Iliana Galvez
If I had to choose one picture book to read for Mother’s Day, it would be this one. It’s such a heartwarming celebration of motherhood and bellies. While most picture books about fat and big bellies tend to center on a negative or bullying experience, this is just all joy from start to finish. A young boy’s favorite panza (belly) is their mamá’s. Mamá’s panza stretched and grew when he was inside it, and now it’s the perfect cushion for wrestling antics, a place to hide when strangers are near, and a pure comfort during storytime snuggles. While we read this together, my daughter and I patted our bellies and commented on how soft they were, and the cool noises they make when we pat them, and how I grew her inside me. It was a really sweet moment, and I’m so glad other mothers and children can celebrate their wonderful bellies with this picture book.
Mama in the Moon by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Brian Cronin
This one is probably my daughter’s favorite. It’s a super sweet picture book about a baby and mama sloth. When Baby Sloth takes a tumble from his mother’s arms one night and lands in the forest below, he feels scared. He watches Mama’s progress down the tree by the light of the moon. It’s very slow progress, and his mother encourages him to look and smell and feel the things around him as he waits. This helps calm Baby down. The illustrations are so vivid: pops of bright colors on an otherwise navy or black background.
Mamas and Babies by Christie Matheson
We are all about animals lately at home, and this nonfiction picture book is another really sweet Mother’s Day read. It explores the mother/child relationship between polar bears, kangaroos, penguins, deer, and many other animals, 13 total. Each page is short and simple with one fact about the animals depicted. The realistic watercolor illustrations are lovely. This is a great nonfiction book for younger picture book readers.
For Earth Day, my spouse and I were able to surprise my daughter with a picnic at school during her lunch. Her school has a lovely garden where parents can come and share lunch with their kids. She was so ecstatic to see us! After spending most of the last two months indoors recovering from a variety of respiratory ailments, it was nice to spend a little time outside.
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, Twitter @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom.bsky.social, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
All the best,
Margaret Kingsbury