IF MY MOM WERE A BIRD

A passel of smiling children imagines what kinds of birds their moms would be.

One boy's mom would be a "graceful swan"; a girl's mom would be a "curious blue jay." The simple text sets a predictable pattern for each pair of double-page spreads: on the first, the child declares, "If my mom were a bird, she would be a busy, energetic [or squawky, noisy, etc.]..."; the subsequent spread's uncluttered watercolor illustration depicts the child and mother together along with the bird in question, and the name of the bird completes the sentence begun before. In some cases, the bird parallel is an obvious one: a mom in a jogging suit is imagined as an ostrich; a tool-belt–clad mom would be a woodpecker. Others are opaque; why would the quilt-waving girl's mom be a "funny, sneaky parrot"? For that matter, are parrots really renowned for their sly natures? The book's most signal weakness is in the realm of diversity. Although hair colors vary and a few characters' skin tones may be a smidge darker than pink, none is noticeably other than Caucasian, all children seem obviously biologically related to their moms, and all are able-bodied. Companion title If My Dad Were an Animal shares format and flaws.

Sweet enough but slight and monocultural.