Reviews
"Everything about this small and cozy book-topic, tone, format-is just right for the intended audience." Horn Book "a soft, comforting remembrance of the good things mothers do...Mothers will like this." Kirkus Reviews "a reassuring bedtime book" School Library Journal "A text of very few words with a resassuing refrain floats on shadowy acrylic paintings of animals and their babies." Booklist, ALA, A text of very few words with a resassuing refrain floats on shadowy acrylic paintings of animals and their babies., "Everything about this small and cozy book—topic, tone, format—is just right for the intended audience." Horn Book "a soft, comforting remembrance of the good things mothers do...Mothers will like this." Kirkus Reviews "a reassuring bedtime book" School Library Journal "A text of very few words with a resassuing refrain floats on shadowy acrylic paintings of animals and their babies." Booklist, ALA, PreSchool-Each double-page spread shows an animal mother with one or more of her babies engaged in some kind of typical activity: a pig nurses her litter, a cat licks her kittens clean, etc. Their actions are described in the simple text. "Mother keeps her babies clean,/and close,/and safe from harm." "Mother takes them out and shows them off." Readers are then reassured, "Mothers are like that." The last spread shows a human mother, tucking her baby into a crib, with "a kiss good night." Youngsters will enjoy looking at the soft, realistic acrylic paintings of familiar animals-sheep, cows, horses, ducks, raccoons, dogs, and more. The artist's soft colors and gentle shadows, coupled with the caring and affection evident in the postures and actions of the mothers, make this a reassuring bedtime book. Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA, This mother-son collaboration quietly praises mothers of all species, from a chicken guarding an egg-filled nest to a woman tucking her baby into bed at night. The text is tender without being sappy, its comforting descriptions anchored by the title refrain: "Mother keeps her babies clean,/ and close,/ and safe from harm./ She can find them in a crowd./ Mothers are like that." The author is no stranger to familial teamwork: Carol Carrick collaborated with her late husband, Donald Carrick, on several picture books, including Patrick's Dinosaurs. Their son, Paul, makes a promising picture book debut with luminous, realistic acrylic art that portrays the mothers as warm and solicitous without anthropomorphizing them. In several spreads, he uses lavender-blue outlines to make the animals appear backlit or slightly electrified, and he subtly conveys a background that traces a single day from sunup to moonrise. A fluffy, substantial ewe and her babe fill one verdant spread, and in another, a mother cat licks one of her restless kittens in an indoor setting rendered in warm grays. This brief volume honors all that mothers do, and makes an especially apt bedtime book for parent and child to share. Ages 3-6. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition., "Everything about this small and cozy book--topic, tone, format--is just right for the intended audience." Horn Book "a soft, comforting remembrance of the good things mothers do...Mothers will like this." Kirkus Reviews "a reassuring bedtime book" School Library Journal "A text of very few words with a resassuing refrain floats on shadowy acrylic paintings of animals and their babies." Booklist, ALA
