Penny Harrison (text) and Sharon Davey (illustrator), The Best Mum, New Frontier Publishing, April 2021, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922326225
Penny Harrison has written several picture books including Extraordinary, The Little Coven and now this delightful look at mums from a child’s perspective.
Everyone loves their own mum but sometimes you can’t help looking at other people’s mums and comparing. Here a little girl describes all the wonderful ways in which her friends’ mums are better than her own, incidentally providing us with a picture of what the perfect mum is supposed to be like.
These mums know each kind of braid, are wizards at creating something fantastic for dress up day, always move gracefully, know disco dancing, sing pop songs, cook wonderful treats and are never late! Her own mum makes costumes with sticky tape and glue, is hopeless on skates, cooks rock hard cakes, puts too much health food in the lunches and, my favourite, loves opera but sounds like a car alarm when she sings. But, there is one thing about her mum that makes her the best mum in the world, and I will let you can guess what it is.
This light-hearted look at people’s parenting skills is great for sharing, starting discussions and maybe even some deeper thinking. The rhyme keeps the text flowing along, the illustrations are bright, breezy and humourously insightful, and the whole package will appeal to many readers and their mums.
Reviewed by Mia Macrossan
