Mother’s Day is this Sunday!
Mother’s Day 2012 is May 13th– just around the corner. So I’ve rounded up three picture books which I will share with you throughout this week, each with a different message for Mom. Here, in each of these love notes, Mom’s love is pictured alternately as under-appreciated, inexhaustible and indomitable. I think moms and kids will enjoy each and all of these as they sit down for a cuddle and read.
Don’t forget to check out my post from this past Monday about the title I Love My Mommy Because…
Happy Mother’s Day!
Mars Needs Moms!
By Berkeley Breathed
All moms do is boss and dictate, right? So says Milo, our disgruntled hero. What child hasn’t grumbled and chafed at moms, at times even referring to them as “thundering, humorless tyrants” after gentle reminders such as “take out the trash,” “Please don’t hit your sister” etc. Complaining, whiny boys who wonder why moms are important, take note! Things can change in an instant, compliments of a band of marauding Martians.
In Mars Needs Moms, a major motion picture and a New York Times bestseller, kids will definitely glimpse themselves. Well, maybe not right away. Initially, some will probably, at one time or another, side with Milo’s view of moms as, “bellowing broccoli bullies and carrot-cuddling cuckoos.” Pretty strong stuff.
Well, Milo, here’s a flash for you. Martians don’t quite see it that way. They “treasure” moms, who are absent from the Martian scene as they view them from a landing post and resolve to nab one of them. Guess whose mom is co-opted? Hint: His name starts with M. Viewing her capture; Milo figures why not hitch a ride and scan the Martian landscape!
On Milo’s galactic journey to Mars, he has an opportunity to see his mom and her devotion through fresh Martian eyes and comes to a new appreciation of her selfless love for him. Kids may see Mom in a new light after reading Mars Needs Moms, perhaps shaded with a tint of Martian green. And boys, especially, will perhaps grumble less after this marvelous trip to Mars and the near miss of Mom being borrowed by Martians.
The drawings are fresh and funny. It’s easy to see how Pulitzer Prize winning Berkeley Breathed, creator of Opus and Bloom County comic strips has breathed (pardon the pun) his creative juices into a quirky and imaginative read for moms and kids everywhere. It’s a Martian marvel!