MAMA'S VOICE
by Trish Noble illustrated by Catharine Fairchild
In Noble’s posthumously published picture book, a girl looks for something her mother lost.
One evening, young Bekah’s mother tells her that she’s lost her voice. Perplexed, the girl searches for it, checking underneath a table, on a bookshelf, and behind green curtains with white spots. Mom’s voice is nowhere to be found, so Bekah dives into her toys and into a basket of yarn; she explores more possibilities, such as underneath a rug and inside a vacuum cleaner tube, to no avail, and feels defeated. Mama then sits on the floor, looking kindly at Bekah and chucking her under the chin. She assures the girl that her voice will return soon and tucks her into bed, giving her a kiss on the head. The story ends with Mama’s voice returning, and readers learn that Bekah and Mama have a nighttime lullaby-singing ritual. Noble, according to the author bio, “authored this book as a testament to the imagination of children.” Overall, the sparse text is suitable for a very young picture-book audience. Caregivers may wish that it included more visual description to bolster the story and increase the age range of its potential audience, but it’s sweet as is. Fairchild’s appealing, full-color illustrations employ a distinctly gentle, soft cartoon style, which sets a comforting tone.
A pleasant kids’ story that may inspire new bedtime routines.