Are you my Mother?

Eastman, P.D. 1960. Are you my Mother? New York, NY: Random House. ISBN-978-0394800189

Plot Summary:

Are you my Mother? is a classic children's story about a baby bird who hatches when his mother is away hunting for a worm. The baby bird falls out of his nest, and since his mother is not there, the little bird asks everyone (and everything!) he encounters if they are his mother. From a cow to a steamboat to an airplane to a "snort" (a steam shovel), his question never changes: Are you my mother? In the end, the steam shovel answers the baby bird's question by placing him back in his nest where his mother returns with a worm she found during her hunt.

Critical Analysis:

The story is a funny look at what can be a serious situation. While the actions of the baby bird and the various things he asks if they are his mother are amusing for the reader, the underlying question remains if the baby bird and mother will be reunited. The reunion of the baby bird and mother drives the plot. Readers become invested in the story of the baby bird. They want to see the baby bird reunited with his mother, and they enjoy the absurdity of his asking everything, "Are you my mother?" In fact, his question is probably one of its most amusing qualities for young readers. Little children know the cow, the hen, or the kitten cannot be the baby bird's mother, and they find it hilarious that the little bird would ask such different animals (and objects) if they could possibly be his mother when it's so obvious they can't be. As I read the book to my two year old, he would says, "NO!" and laugh at the baby bird for asking so many different animals and objects if they were his mother. While the baby bird does not know the difference between what he is as a bird and what the others are, everyone who reads the book immediately knows the differences, which again, adds to the humor of the story. Also, older readers find the little bird's question equally funny, but older readers might more easily pick up on the emotions, particularly the tension, the plot produces as the baby bird tries to find his mother.

The illustrations are realistic and vivid line drawings that captivate the reader, especially the faces of each character. The details of each character's face show the various feelings each character experiences by the little bird asking them if they are his mother. The cow has a maternal and caring look on her face while the kitten looks confused. Even the inanimate characters have faces that blend into their construction. The eyes of the car are its headlights while the front windows of the airplane are its eyes and the opening below the nose of the plane is its mouth. There is artistry in the way Eastman blends the facial features of the inanimate characters while holding true to the object's organic form.

Review Excerpt:
"...Are You My Mother? opens up a question that many young children worry about. As the little bird goes from kitten to hen to a car to a boat, the young readers cheer him on...the book invites many opportunities for conversation as the children explain differences between the various candidates for motherhood and baby bird, or as they share experiences about times when they may have missed or lost their mother, only to be lovingly reunited." --Mary Hynes-Berry Children's Literature Review

(Finding a review over ARE YOU MY MOTHER? was a challenge. This is the only review I could find that I thought qualified for the assignment.)

Connections:
The subject matter of the book is something that all children and adults can identify with; after all, who hasn't had that moment of panic, as a child or as a parent, of turning around in a store, in a park, or any crowded place and found the loved one you were with is out of sight? For young children, this would make a good discussion topic.

Children also enjoy the repetition in the writing. Other books that are part of the Dr. Seuss collection such as Hop on Pop or Eastman's Go Dog Go would appeal to young readers as well.

Another discussion could be had with readers about the way baby bird does not realize the differences between himself as a bird and all the animals and things he thinks could be his mother. This is a discussion that would need to be handled sensitively.