Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Just Like Mama

Just Like Mama

Leslea Newman
Illustrator:  Julia Gorton 
Picture Book
For ages 3 to 6
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2010   ISBN: 978-0810983939

It is a bright sunny day and a young girl is spending the day with her mama. When she wakes up in the morning her mother is there to sweep her out of her bed and to give her a big hug. As far as the little girl is concerned, her mother is the best waker-upper around. “Nobody wakes me up just like Mama,” she says.

After having her hair braided and eating her breakfast, the little girl goes out into the garden with her mama. With her flowered hat and her “sunny yellow clogs,” Mama is unique and the little girl is sure that “Nobody gardens just like Mama.”

With is warm rhyming text and its bright and colorful artwork, this picture book is a delightful celebration of a daughter’s love for her mother and a mother’s simple and total love for her child.