Before I Was Your Mother

Before I Was Your Mother

To Katie, it seems as if her mother has always been her mother, with her grocery lists, her purse full of bills to pay, and her boring, sensible shoes. But when her mother reveals that she once was a girl who bossed her little brother, wore firefighter boots to bed, and dreamed grand ballerina dreams, Katie realizes that she and her mother might be alike after all. This humorous, warmhearted blend of past and present celebrates the special love mothers and daughters share. Kindergarten-Grade 3-A beautifully written, lovingly executed trip down memory lane. Sepia-toned endpapers at the beginning of the book introduce readers to a freckle-faced girl in pigtails; endpapers at the conclusion feature colorful images of her daughter at the same age, years later. In between, the quiet refrain-"I wasn't always your mother"-gently reminds readers of the child that this adult narrator used to be. Pham's watercolor, pen-and-ink, and collage illustrations use warm tones throughout, but rely primarily on soft shades of brown and tan for the mother's childhood memories and brighter, crisper hues for those of her as a grown woman with her daughter. This fond tribute to loving mothers and daughters everywhere promises to become a bedtime favorite. Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. PreS-Gr. 2. In this sweet, honest slice of life, a mother talks to her daughter, recalling herself as a little girl (with a friend named Ruby and a brother named Freddy), a girl who put on a circus in her backyard and ate her mother's Jell-O. The mother assures her daughter that she was not always "the mother who tells you to shush when I'm on the telephone," and the accompanying picture shows the daughter, a boa around her neck, and her friends pretending to be singers. Another spread goes back in time to show the mother as a girl with her pal Ruby on a "starry, starry night" when they turned the garbage can lids upside down and tap-danced on them, "just to hear the rat-a-tat-tat bounce into the darkness." Adults may sense an almost melancholy dimension to the text, but that perception comes with age. Children will be charmed by the thought of mothers who were girls with exuberance and dreams much like their own. The watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations, bursting with real life and remembrance, celebrate the story. Conversations galore will spring from this. Ilene Cooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved KATHRYN LASKY 's many books for young people have received such honors as the Parents' Choice Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and a Newbery Honor citation. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. LEUYEN PHAM is the illustrator of several award-winning picture books. A graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, she lives in San Francisco, California.