Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Mama Robot
Illustrator: AnnaLaura Cantone
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Tundra Books, 2008 ISBN: 978-0887768736
Every day when he comes home from school, a little boy finds a note from his mother sitting on the kitchen table next his dinner. In the note, she tells her son that she is working and that he should brush his teeth after he eats, do his homework, and tidy his room.
One day, after eating his solitary dinner, brushing his teeth, doing his homework, and tidying up his room, the little boy decides that something has to be done to change his “boring” existence. So, he sets about building a Mama Robot who will “never be at her desk” and who will “spend all her time with me.”
Mama Robot will protect him from all the things that he is afraid of, and she will only make him the kinds of food that he likes to eat - pizza, chicken nuggets, and spaghetti for example. She will do his homework and, generally speaking, will do exactly what he wants her to do. Then the little boy encounters a problem. Though a Mama Robot would be a wonderful thing to have, there is one vital thing that it would not be able to do.
Every child who has been frustrated with his or her parents will appreciate this clever and amusing picture book. Unique collage-style multimedia illustrations perfectly capture the quirkiness of the story.
