My Mum's the Best

Rosie Smith (author)

Bruce Whatley (illustrator)

Scholastic, Australia: April 2011

ISBN: 9781741698435

Genre: picture book

Issues: family

An apparently simple story about why a child loves its mother, Bruce Whatley's illustrations take this to a different level.

'Hanging around' is given a whole new meaning when it's a chimp and his mum; 'takes me to school' is quite a different thing when your mother is a fish; being 'tucked in at bedtime' gets somewhat up close and personal if you're a bat.

Children (and adults!) will laugh out loud at the images that go with what they think of as very ordinary, daily experiences. Rather like Rod Clement's Just Another Ordinary Day, the story works best if read aloud first without showing the illustrations. Whatley's pictures, as always, are packed with affection, humour and personality.

A book that reminds readers that the bond between mother and child occurs well beyond the human experience, My Mum's the Best is an absolute delight.

Highly recommended.