There are few enough U.S. picture books about South Indian families; it’s a shame this one is so weak.
Little Bose loves his mother’s mookuthi, the Tamil word for an ornament that many Indian women wear in their noses.
The stone reminds Little Bose of beautiful things in his life, like morning dew or a star in the sky. Most importantly, though, the mookuthi reminds Little Bose of how much his mother loves him. Amma’s mookuthi sparkles all day long: when she wakes Little Bose up in the morning, when she drinks her filter coffee, when she comforts Little Bose during a nighttime thunderstorm. One winter day, however, for an unexplained reason, Amma stops wearing her mookuthi. Little Bose is heartbroken. That night, Amma takes him outside and shows him the moon, which, she says, is a mookuthi that shines on their family always. The book’s text and illustrations cleverly incorporate aspects of middle-class South Indian life, including filter coffee, kanchivaram saris, and jackfruit trees. In the pictures, most of the characters are light skinned, which does not reflect the wide variety of dark skin tones typical of rural Tamil Nadu, where the family lives. The story does not have much of a plot, and the text is, at times, both overwritten and too sentimental. While the author’s note explains that the book is about grief, the only loss the protagonist obviously suffers is that of his mother’s mookuthi.
There are few enough U.S. picture books about South Indian families; it’s a shame this one is so weak. (cast of characters, glossary) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-953927-00-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Batani Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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