Oh The Things Mommies Do! (What Could Be Better Than Having Two?)

February 23rd, 2011 · No Comments · Books

Review By JENNIFER KALI

The message of this book is clear. If you have two moms, you are a lucky, lucky kid. “Mommies ride bikes and conquer the flu. They keep on the fridge the things that you drew. Mommies jump on trampolines and plant gardens too. They sing your favorite songs with you! Oh the things mommies do!  What could be better than having two?” In a world that demonizes two-mom families, this book is a celebration. It is simple and lyrical and fun, with bright and colorful illustrations. The pictures are ethnically diverse and represent many different kinds of two-mom families (uniracial and biracial, one or more children, with and without pets).

My toddler loves pointing at the people in the images and indicating who each represents in our family. She takes obvious joy in seeing her family represented in books. After reading her multiple books with heterosexual families, it feels good to show her books where she sees her family.

As a mom in a two-mom family, I have to recommend this book. I have not seen another book that is such a celebration of our family. Watching the joy my daughter gets out of reading this book indicates to me the importance of the book’s message to a child like her. But as a vegetarian, this book gives me great reasons to pause. According to the book, moms take you to the zoo and make chicken stew. The illustrations show monkeys behind bars at the zoo and a graphic image of a chicken being dropped in a stew pot.

I often find that no single book can represent my life philosophy. Often each book has a little good and a little bad. So with each book I try to decide if the good outweighs the bad. In this instance, for me, the good outweighs the bad. It’s very important that my daughter sees her family celebrated.

I recommend the book but have some obvious reservations with it. We edited the book by putting vegetable stickers over the chicken. Each family will have to determine if this book works for them.

Ages 2-7.

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