Is Mommy?

by Victoria Chang, Marla Frazee (Illustrator)

Overview

In this irreverent, hilarious, and charming picture book, award-winning poet Victoria Chang and celebrated artist Marla Frazee show that all toddlers love their mommies—no matter what.

Is Mommy tall or short?
Short!

Is Mommy fun or boring?
Boring!

In this joyous ode to hardworking mothers everywhere—who may not always be fun or organized or neat—Victoria Chang asks, do their toddlers love them anyway? Of course! Marla Frazee’s colorful and humorous illustrations bring this simple text—perfect for reading aloud—to vivid life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481402927
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	11/03/2015
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Victoria Chang is a celebrated poet, whose books have earned such honors as a PEN Center Literary Award and a California Book Award. Her poems have appeared in Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review, POETRY, Believer, New England Review, VQR, The Nation, New Republic, The Washington Post, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. She is a contributing editor of the literary journal, Copper Nickel. She lives in Southern California with her family and her wiener dog, Mustard. Is Mommy...? is her first book for children.

Marla Frazee was awarded a Caldecott Honor for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Picture Book for her wordless book The Farmer and the Clown. She is the author-illustrator of many books, including The Boss Baby, the book that inspired the DreamWorks Animation film Boss Baby. She has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant; Stars by Mary Lyn Ray; and Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers. She is also the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Clementine chapter book series by Sara Pennypacker. The mother of three grown sons, she lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her at MarlaFrazee.com.

Editorial Reviews

Is Mommy? lobs an attack on perfectionism. When parenting blogs and social media edit out hot tempers, hangovers, the tedium of groceries, fearful obsessions with death and eroding body confidence to suggest that parenting is all butterfly cupcakes, quilting projects completed in time for birthdays and endless nonwage-earning hours spent biking to swimming holes or exploring museums, it can be difficult to remember that the only essential qualities required for parenting are kindness and courage. Chang and Frazee's playful book reminds a reader that children love well and without reservation; especially when it comes to their "short, ugly, mean, boring, old, messy" mommies.

The New York Times Book Review - Samantha Hunt

08/31/2015
Poet Chang (The Boss) makes her children’s debut with a dialogue between children and an unseen narrator, which Frazee (The Farmer and the Clown) draws with raucous exuberance. The cast is a crayon box of round-headed elfin preschoolers—a red one in polka dots, a green one with many pigtails, and so on. “Is Mommy tall or short?” the narrator asks the polka-dot girl. A spread shows the alternatives, comically exaggerated: does her mommy tower over her, or is she a tiny doll? A page turn reveals her shouted reply: “Short!” A child in orange pajamas joins her. “Is Mommy pretty... or ugly?” (the child’s groggy mother awakens with a wild, spiky bedhead and puffy slits for eyes). “Ugly!” yells orange pajamas. The children always choose the rudest option, but the group answers the final question (“Do you love your short, ugly, mean, boring, old, messy mommy?”) with a resounding “Yes!” There are many mothers who feel beleaguered enough without signing up for a readaloud like this, but the children’s anarchic glee rings very true. Up to age 5. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

An unseen narrator poses questions about Mommy to six toddlers: Is she tall or short; pretty or ugly; nice or mean; fun or boring; young or old; neat or messy? In each case, the shouted reply is the latter, more negative alternative. Yet when asked, “Do you love your short, ugly, mean, boring, old, messy mommy?” the rejoinder is a resounding “YES!” What might have been a slightly irreverent but ultimately reaffirming question-and-response tale here becomes a hilarious narrative, thanks to Frazee’s artistic talent. Using

tempera paint on Manila paper, she creates matching toddler-mommy pairs, each decked out in a distinctive candy color, with matching clothing and hairstyle. Her uncluttered spreads feature only the characters and oversize speech balloons, which will help toddlers to focus on the story essentials. And, although messy Mommy’s cupcakes may have something to do with the final positive comeback, it’s clear that everyone here is having a wonderful time. Kids will appreciate the story’s visual absurdities, making it

perfect for story time or one-on-one sharing.

November 1, 2015 - Booklist

★ 12/01/2015
Toddler-PreS—A troupe of toddlers cheekily field questions about their mothers. An unseen narrator asks, "Is mommy tall…/or short?" A red-headed imp ponders the query and imagines a tall mommy reaching down for a loving embrace, and then fantasizes about towering over a suddenly diminutive, doll-like mommy. A huge speech bubble, spread across the next two pages, shouts the child's answer: "Short!" More options are posed to a growing crowd of mischievous tots, such as whether Mommy is boring or fun, young or old, neat or messy. The contrary answers are bellowed out with unabashed glee. The final question, "Do you love your short, ugly, mean, boring, old, messy mommy?" is answered with an unequivocal "YES!" Frazee's tempera paint illustrations take center stage and star a colorful cast of children who are outfitted in primary color wardrobes and have uniquely fashioned hairdos. VERDICT Toddlers will relish the simple, headstrong text in this quirky book.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

School Library Journal

2015-08-31
A passel of tots discuss their moms' positive and negative aspects with uncontained glee. "Is mommy tall... / or short?" an unseen narrator asks a crimson-haired tyke wearing a matching crimson dress with white polka dots. The child imagines "tall" (mommy leans down lovingly, about to pick up her dubious-looking daughter) and "short" (now the child looms over a suddenly shrunken, dismayed-looking mommy). With a turn of the page, a definitive, spread-dominating speech bubble declares, "Short!" Other child-and-mommy pairings demonstrate pretty or ugly, nice or mean, fun or boring, young or old, neat or messy; each mommy is loudly adjudged the negative alternative, the growing crowd of children reveling in the mischief. Frazee uses tempera in a limited palette of candy colors, black, and white on soft tan Manila paper, brush strokes giving each area of color (plus the white speech bubbles) luscious texture. The moms look like tall, elongated versions of their children, down to identically colored clothing and hair and distinctive hairstyles. In fluidity of line, simplicity and boldness of palette, and often peculiarity of hairstyle, the figures evoke Seuss' Whos; in sheer impishness, these children are 100-percent Frazee. When asked, "Do you love your short, ugly, mean, boring, old, messy mommy?" however, there is no question in these children's minds: "Yes!" A funny and deceptively simple meditation on unconditional filial love. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews