14th May Mothers' Day

Every year at this time, besides checking in with my own children, I look at what books are new or recommended reading for young children . This year I purchased only one book to be added to our Mothers Day list. It is Mummy's Special Day (2023) by Frances Stickley and Caroline Rabei.

Like most schools we have a Mothers Day Celebration in the form of a breakfast with mum and each class does something special for their mothers. 

In the library we display all the picture books about mothers and the children and teachers borrow them. There are plenty, but when it comes to what I read to children in the library I try to pick a 'meaty', book where there is plenty to discuss. Often the discussion centres on what the children want to buy as presents for their mothers because dad is taking them shopping. As an antidote to this we talk about what they could give their mothers that costs nothing. This is hard for some children. 

Titles that are good for this discussion are: 

• Five Minutes Peace (1986) by Jill Murphy

• The Kinder Hat (1987) by Morag Loh and Donna Rawlins

• Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present (1962) by Charlotte Zolotow and Maurice Sendak

• A Chair for Mother (1982) by Vera Williams 

• Pink Fluffy Slippers (1992) by Maureen Sherlock and Craig Smith

You will notice these books were published quite a while ago and except for the first one are probably hard to find. This brings up two dilemmas for me. 

1. Many older picture books have a longer, more complicated, satisfying plot and a worthwhile, yet subtle theme, but as they are old copies, irreplaceable because they are out of print they may no longer look enticing. Compare this with some more modern picture books for younger children which concentrate on 'writing in rhyme', have computer generated illustrations, teach a lesson, and thus are quite didactic.

2. If a book is 'old' it may be weeded from the library stock. This happens because weeding is ad hoc, done by an ill-informed helper or because someone has decided the library has too many books and new is better. Teacher librarians should have criteria for weeding a library, know what resources are used and when, and because they have favourites and teachers have favourites know what not to discard until the person is no longer on the staff.

The Trouble With Mum (1985)  by Babette Cole, Are You My Mother? (1960) by P.D. Eastman, Tucking Mummy In (1987) by Morag Loh and Mums Don't Get Sick  (1995) by Marylin Hafner are still favourites with teachers and mothers. They are 'old'. Should all these books be weeded? 

Compare the books above with I Love My Mummy (2010) by Emma Dodd and Giles Andreae, There's Only One Mum Like You (2019) by Jess Rackyleft, The Strongest Mum (2018) by Nicola Kent and Superhero Mum (2018) by Timothy Knapman and Joe Berger. Although short on depth, currently these books are all out of the library on loan, so they do appeal, but will they still be around in twenty to thirty years and remembered as favourites?

Doing special things with Mum is another thing to talk to the children about, using books like these as provocation.

• Saturday by One Mora

• One Day With Mum  by Helen Oxenbury

• Mum, Me and the Mulberry Tree by Tanya Rosie and Chuck Groenik

• The Big Big Sea  by Martin Fadell and Jennifer Eachus

• Any of the Shirley Hughes' books about Alfie and Annie Rose doing things with their mother or the Sarah Garland books Going Swimming, Doing the Garden etc.