Where – or Who – is Mom?

I came across The Overeager Egg by Milja Praagman (2022) at the bookstore and took a peek. The overeager egg is one that tumbles out of its nest, hits a rock, and partially hatches. When it sees other creatures it asks, “Are you my mommy?” A swan at the end of the story has found . . . daddy!

Are You My Mommy? by Joyce Wan (2014) is illustration magic. This is a board book with holes in some of the pages. A baby rabbit asks a collection of farm animals, “Are you my mommy?” With the turn of each page, a young animal suddenly appears beside its parent. Its appearence depends upon a pattern on the adult’s body, enclosing it within the cutout to reveal a baby animal. The bunny finds its mommy.

Are You My Mommy?” by Mary Murphy (2014) is a lift-the-flap board book. As a puppy searches for its mother, readers lift a flap to reveal a foal beside a mare, a kitten beside a cat, and so on.

I prefer Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman (1960). Eastman gives us more story. We learn why and how a baby bird leaves home. Momma is away searching for food when her single egg hatches. This baby bird isn’t helplessly lost; it has agency. It doesn’t fall out of the nest, it jumps! Furthermore, the biggest and scariest creature turns out to be a compassionate steam shovel that returns the youngster back to its nest.

Quite coincidentally, I stumbled upon Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel (2012). Goodreads states “Poignantly, hilariously, Bechdel embarks on a quest for answers concerning the mother-daughter gulf. It’s a richly layered search that leads readers from the fascinating life and work of the iconic twentieth-century psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, to one explosively illuminating Dr. Seuss illustration . . . finally, back to Mother. . .” I gave up after the first two chapters, though I’m sure it’s an insightful read. Genius title.