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Books for Kids

All About Mom

By Nicole Jones

Illustration by Amy Wummer.

May 09, 2002 -- My Soccer Mom from Mars
By Joan Hollub (Rita Book), illustrated by Amy Wummer, Grosset & Dunlap, 2001, ages 7-10, 48 pages, rating: ***.

Ryan is excited to be a part of the soccer team that he got to name: Half and Half. What he is less happy with is his mom's overenthusiastic cheering at the games. Since the team colors are black and white, she wears a black and white polka dotted shirt and clangs a cowbell while she cheers from the sidelines. After some of Ryan's teammates tease him about his mom, the embarrassment causes him to kick the ball into the wrong goal after halftime. He leaves a note for his mom before the next game, lying about what time it begins, so that she will miss it. When he arrives at the game, though, his teammates are disappointed to hear that she won't be there. They appreciate the fact that she comes to the games and that she doesn't yell when he makes a mistake, unlike some of their parents. Ryan regrets the lie he told his mom. However, he is relieved to see her and his younger sister on the sidelines, both wearing cow ears!

Young readers will identify with the narrator's predicament since many experience the first pangs of being embarrassed by parents at this age. Themes of jealousy and disappointment are also portrayed in a light but realistic way. When one of Ryan's teammates, Katy, is jealous that Half and Half was chosen for the team name over her, it's manifested not only in the obvious facial expressions but also in her reaction to Ryan's mom on the sidelines. But Katy is the first person to ask where his mom is on the day she isn't there for the game. The subplot of the story--Ryan's confusion about which direction to kick the ball--concludes positively. On his own he creates a rhyme that reminds him which goal to run towards. The result is kicking the winning shot of the tied game.

Illustration by Jane Dale Koutsky.

My Grandma, My Pen Pal
Written and illustrated by Jane Dale Koutsky, Boyds Mill Press, 2002, 32 pages, ages 4-8, rating: *****

The narrator shares her experiences with her grandmother throughout her life through pictures and letters beginning with when she was a baby through the birth of her own child. The two begin a correspondence; the narrator draws pictures and the grandma writes as well as draws pictures of her reactions to the narrator's letters. Old photos of the grandma as a child are also included, along with stamps, seed packages, and postcards. When the narrator has her own daughter, the reader sees her looking at the scrapbook that her grandma made her of all the letters and pictures they exchanged. The exposed page is a page that was previously read in the book itself!

Illustration by Jane Dale Koutsky.

Koutsky writes and illustrates this sweet book describing the friendship between a child and her grandmother. Both children who get to see their grandparents often and those that are separated from theirs by distance will be inspired by the correspondence. The colored pencil drawings are realistic and detailed, especially that of the grandmother reacting to receiving letters and the sketch of the narrator's new baby. The child's artwork is also authentic. The grandmother is portrayed stereotypically: sewing, gardening, with grey hair and glasses, but the story is based on the author's own experience with her grandmother. The last page contains a note from the author suggesting ideas for children to speak with their elders about. She also provides a drawing of her, her mother, her grandmother, and her daughter. The importance of children and elders learning from and enriching each other's lives is stressed. This makes a great book for Mother's Day (May 12) or Grandparent's Day (September 10).

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