Are You My Mother? - P.D. Eastman - ★★★★

AUTHOR: P.D. Eastman

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: June 12, 1960

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A cute little picture book about a little birdie looking for his mother. Lovely story, many funny interactions, okay illustrations. (Perhaps they haven’t aged well?) I can see why this is a classic.

Plot Preview:

When a mother bird senses that her baby is about to hatch, she flies off to search food for him. Unfortunately, Baby Bird hatches when she is away. He knows that he has a mother but he can't see her anywhere nearby. Thus begins his adventurous quest to find his mother. A task made very difficult by the fact that he has no idea what she looks like!

Just a few days ago, I read a picture book about a mother bird who lost her babies. Thanks to my GR friend Shelley’s comment on its review, here I am, reading a picture book about a baby bird who lost his mother. 😅

This classic picture book, first published in 1960, was an offering from Dr. Seuss’ publishing house, Beginner Books.

The story is quite sweet. Quite a few animals make an appearance in the book, and it is hilarious to see Baby Bird constantly ask them if they were his mother. I found it amusing that Baby Bird was sure he had a mother, but he didn’t wonder even once if he had a father. 😆

The flow of the story is quite good, though I do wish the identity of the person behind “Snort” had been revealed, at least in the graphics.

The book uses a nice combination of simple words, repetition, conversations, and humour. This textual smorgasbord, along with the animals interacting with Baby Bird, makes this book a great read-aloud option, with many opportunities for enthusiastic adults to emote the text with funny sound effects.

The illustrations were a little disappointing. Though all the creatures are drawn in a cute way, most of the graphics use only brown, with very few exceptions in red and yellow. The overall feel was hence a little drab. For a story based in nature, I would have preferred a more vibrant palette.

Overall, this picture book, with its humorous interactions and heartwarming reunion would be an entertaining accompaniment to bedtime. I am not at all surprised that this is considered a children’s classic.

This was a library read.