Tag: mother’s day

What Makes My Mum Happy, by Tania Cox & Lorette Broekstra

What makes Mum happy?
When I start her day with breakfast on a tray;
when I make her a crown to wear into town;
when she watches me dance, skip, hop and prance.

What makes Mum happy?
When I start her day with breakfast on a tray;
when I make her a crown to wear into town;
when she watches me dance, skip, hop and prance.

The simple text of this hard cover offering focuses on what makes Mum happy – with an emphasis on things Mum and child do together, or that the child does for/around Mum – making things for Mum, playing together or doing every day things. Illustrations support this – showing various mothers and their children revelling in being together. In both text and image it is lovely to see togetherness being celebrated, and hugs and cuddles in abundance, and also to see the mums and children coming from different ethnic groups and seemingly having different interests, rather than being generic.

Released in April, in time for Mother’s Day, this a book to be enjoyed all year round by mums and their children, and with simple, minimal text would be suitable for the very young.

What Makes My Mum Happy

What Makes My Mum Happy, by Tania Cox & Lorette Broekstra
Allen & Unwin, 2012
ISBN 9781742378374

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

The Night Before Mother's Day, by Doug MacLeod & Judy Horaceck

This laugh out loud little offering shows how one mum – who is, in a way, a part of every mum – lies sleepless through the night before Mother’s Day, enumerating the ‘delights’ the day will hold.

‘Twas the Night

before Mother’s Day,

Mum lay awake,

The sense of excitement

Was too much to take.

She knew that tomorrow

Would bring her such joys

As gifts from her daughter

And two darling boys.

This laugh out loud little offering shows how one mum – who is, in a way, a part of every mum – lies sleepless through the night before Mother’s Day, enumerating the ‘delights’ the day will hold. First there will be home made gifts and flowers pulled (with roots intact) from the garden. Then there will be breakfast, made with love, but not easily digested. As Mum tosses and turns she frets about these and the other joys the day ahead holds – before thinking, finally, of her own mum who will understand, having been there herself.

In small format hardcover, with cartoon illustrations, mothers will nod in agreement with the humour of the book, making it an ideal Mother’s Day gift, especially from one mother to another. Of course, in spite of the illustrated format this one is aimed at adults rather than children – with little ones unlikely to appreciate the wry humour, although older children and teens may well get it and join in the laughter.

As for this mother – she loved it!

The Night Before Mother's Day

The Night Before Mother’s Day, by Doug MacLeod & Judy Horacek

Allen & Unwin, 2012

ISBN 9781742379401

This book is available from good bookstores, or online from Fishpond.