Mama Always Comes Home

PreS–A gentle and reassuring picture book. Children will be drawn right in from the title page, on which a mother holds and kisses her pajama-clad child. The consistently tender illustrations follow the text's well-crafted rhymes as different animal mothers leave their offspring for a brief period and then return. Mama Bird (in a flowered headscarf) feeds her babies, then tucks them beneath a quilt in their nest before digging up more worms; Mama Cat leaves her kittens in the barn to have a sip of cream in the house; Mama Dog runs out to play with her boy. Each example ends with the refrain: "Mama always comes home." At the end of the story, the human mother explains to her little one, "I want to stay,/but while I'm gone have fun and play,/and soon, before you know,/time will fly right by, and then/I'll be coming home again." Presented with a delicate and loving touch, this book embodies the power of thoughtful text supported by insightful pictures. A good choice for parents and children dealing with separation anxiety.–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
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