My Mom is a Foreigner, But Not to Me by Julianne Moore

My Mom is a Foreigner by Julianne Moore
My Mom is a Foreigner, But Not to Me by Julianne Moore

today’s children storybook summary is

My Mom is a Foreigner, But Not to Me

by Julianne Moore

Illustration by Meilo So

Storyline: This book doesn’t have a particular storyline but more of an idea, a perspective, that the author wants to clearly share with her readers:a mother’s love is above race, nationality or place of origin.
The book starts by saying how one mom came in this country (that we suppose to think is United States) when she was 10 years old, with only one suitcase. Yet another mom took the boat to the same place. As each of them made a new home in this new country, they kept part of their customs and traditions. They do weird things and say words that are slightly out of context or just funny. They make their kids be extra polite, bring soup to school for lunch, kiss three times, wear their hair funny and so on. All these moms have “an accent”, they look different, dress unlike and do things a little off standard. But they do have something in common: being mothers. And no matter the names they are called, mutty, mummy, maman, or mom, they share the same kind of love for their kids.

The book is in rhymes and a little hard to read. But the hardest thing is to figure out the characters. At first you expect that the author follows one mom and maybe tells her story and then wrapping up at the end saying that this mom could be yours. But the book actually doesn’t do this, instead it follows several moms from different countries. I could detect a Japanese mom, a French one and a German mom, and there are others. Every page had different characters and sometimes there is more than one mom and one kid in the same illustration. All these said, the idea is awesome and it is worth reading it to your kids. Maybe they have a friend whit a foreign mother or you are a foreigner yourself.

Illustration: Meilo So is the illustrator of this book. She tries to differentiate the multiple mothers and children by color of hair or skin, and by clothing style. Depictions are big, with a pastel palette and just as much details as to make it complete. The artist is creative trying to make a storyline out of none.
Noteworthy is the one page in the book where the authors translate “I love you” in few other languages. Also, another page is dedicated to naming festivals around the world.

Characters: mom, child, people

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