Non-LGBT Book Recommendations for LGBT Families, II

Here’s my next recommendation for a book about non-traditional (or non-specific), but not necessarily LGBT families. (See my philosophy behind this as well as my first recommendation here.)

Mommy, Do You Love Me?, by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Jan Fearnley (Candlewick Press, 2008), tackles the same broad theme as the publisher’s classic Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney: a young child learning about the extent of a parent’s love. In some ways, Mommy Do You Love Me? is the distaff version of McBratney’s book, which features a young hare and his father. Willis’ Little Chick is more probing and curious than McBratney’s Little Nutbrown Hare, however. He makes faces and jumps in mud puddles to test whether his mother will still love him. He wonders whether losing a race or accidentally ruining a present will affect her feelings for him. Unlike McBratney’s story, which focuses on the immeasurable size of a parent’s love, Willis’ tale takes a somewhat deeper look at how children think about the concept.

Willis resolves the story with a light touch and just enough humor to keep it from bogging down in saccharinity. Fearnley’s soft watercolors convey the characters’ emotions but are also full of a liveliness that again keeps the book from cloying.

If you like Guess How Much I Love You, but are looking for a story featuring a mom and not a dad, Mommy Do You Love Me? fits the bill perfectly, and stands on its own as a worthwhile tale for bedtime and other quiet moments.