My Mommy Hung the Moon

PreS-Gr 2—A child rhapsodizes about how wonderful and amazing his mother is. From the everyday things she can do (drive her kid around, make him feel better, break into spontaneous dance) to the ways that she seems superhuman ("She pours all the seas/and sparkles each star./And then she collects one/in my night-light jar"), the recurring theme is that "My mommy's good at everything." It is a touching sentiment, and definitely universal, if slightly overdone in this case. There is a giddy exuberance in both the text and the illustrations that sometimes seems forced, particularly when the rhyme stumbles ("She feathered the birds./She taught them to chirp./She taught me to speak,/my cousin to burp"). There are moments, however, when the book manages to convey a child's sense of adoration with just the right amount of glee, such as when the mother bakes a "BIG MOMMA BATCH" of cookies, and the illustration shows a conveyor belt filled with cookies representing everything from ET to Mount Rushmore. It's an image that is genuinely funny and indicative of how children look up to the adults who positively influence their lives. While not this team's strongest offering, the book will find a place with mothers and children who want another book to celebrate the special connection they have with one another.—Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA