No Replacements Here: Mother, Mother, I Want Another

A Misleading Title:

The title of Mother, Mother I Want Another by Maria Polushkin Robbins made me think of some of my more exasperated moments with B: when he wants another drink of water before bed, or another cookie after the first four, or another game of hide and seek when I’ve found him behind the armchair five times already. I could not have been more wrong. This book gets its humor from an exasperated Mother Mouse who misunderstands her baby’s request.

A Mislead Mouse:

Mother Mouse tucks baby mouse into bed with his goodnight kiss, and he says, “Mother, Mother I want another!” Poor Mother Mouse thinks he has requested another mother instead of her, and goes about finding other animal mothers who come to her aid with an amusing assortment of lullabies. I made up a little tune to sing the lullabies to, but was even more tickled when B asked Grandma to read it one day, and she not only had a tune, but animal voices to go with it!

Mystery Solved:

After a parade of mothers, a tired baby mouse gets fed up and explains that what he wants is another KISS! Ah, poor Mother Mouse went to all that trouble… but who can deny their baby another kiss? So he gets kisses from Mother Mouse and all the other animal mothers too. Such a feel-good ending to the story – and I can’t help but pile the kisses on in the style of each of the mothers! This photo is me stealing some kisses from T.

Your Social Sprout:

Besides being a heart-warmer, Mother, Mother I Want Another may help support your child’s social-emotional development as you discuss whether each of the animal mothers could really be baby mouse’s mother, or whether he would even really want another mother. While the youngest infants recognize their mother’s scent, it is between 6 and 12 months that babies develop that social-emotional attachment to mom that makes it hard for us to even leave the room. I love the warm and humorous way this book shows how all of the animal mothers help care for the baby.

For a similar whose-is-whose discussion, I also love Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino. More animal mamas populate this humor-filled rhyming book.

Appropriate for toddlers-primary grades.

Happy Mother’s Day to any of my mom readers! I'm linking up with Feed Me Books Friday at the Adventure of Motherhood. I try to celebrate each Mother’s Day with a new book about moms, mothers, mamas, or mommies to share with my boys. Any suggestions?