From Publishers Weekly One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one," opens McGhee's (
A Very Brave Witch) understated yet emotion-charged expression of a mother's love and hopes for her child. Reynolds's (
The Dot) spare, wispy pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations depict the narrator and her daughter sharing everyday moments that mark milestones in the girl's maturation: the mother watches snowflakes "melt on your baby skin" and crosses the street as her little one grasps her hand. A transitional spread first reveals the youngster on a tricycle, aided by her mother, and then riding solo on a bicycle ("Then, you were my baby, and now you are my child"). Quietly the emotion builds, as the mother thinks of the future in store for her daughter, its joys and sorrows: "Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me until I no longer see you." Here Reynolds depicts the woman, older than she was at the book's start, on the left, gazing forlornly across the white expanse of the spread. The narrative comes full circle, as the parent looks ahead to a day, "a long time from now," when her daughter's own hair will "glow silver in the sun." Handlettering by Reynolds augments the story's deeply personal quality, which will resonate with both new and seasoned mothers. All ages.
(Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade A mother speaks to her young daughter of milestones to come in her life, first recalling her infancy ("One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one"), and then contemplating her future ("Someday you will swing high, so high, higher than you ever dared to swing"), her adulthood ("Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair"), and her old age ("Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun. And when that day comes, love, you will remember me"). The pen, ink, and watercolor sketches have the same soft sentimentality as the text. The artist's use of white space and hand-printed letters gives a childlike innocence to the book. However, its greeting-card quality will appeal more to new mothers and gift-givers than to children. Barbara M. Joosse's Mama, Do You Love Me? (Chronicle, 1991) is a better choice for libraries.Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer Reviews
NPR turned me on, and then i fell in love with it.....
when i heard the author yesterday on NPR tear up as she read from her book, i decided that when i got to the library (yes, i was really on the way!) i would check it out.....oh my gosh.....i was crying as i shared with the children's librarian! in the vein of "love you forever" by robert munsch (did you know he didn't know that it was a best seller in the US for three years? visit his web site for the story, and other great stuff) it is a book to share with our children, young and old, our parents, young or old....or even my blase eigth graders (i am a school librarian) to maybe spark some real feelings about their families, and what life is truly about......a remarkable story...oh, and if you haven't read "i love you like crazycakes" a book about the adoption of a baby girl from China, get that one, too.....
To treasure forever
This book is beautiful and moving. The illustrations are cute and fun, there's very little text, just one or two sentences on each page under the drawing.
In simple beautiful words the author takes her daughter from her birth to the day when her Mom will be old and she will be a mother herself.
It is amazing how such simple illustrations and words can convey such strong emotions.
This is a book that every Mom will treasure. Reading it will likely bring tears to her eyes, and sharing it with her child will be a special moment...
Beautiful book
I bought this book for my niece on her 4th birthday! It is a true treasure.