“My Mama is a work of art/That doesn’t need a frame,” says a young boy in this rhyming ode to his large, heavily tattooed, serene, and self-confident mama. He joyfully tells readers about the images on her arms and how they show the story of her life.
When he and his mama go out, he expresses his excitement at seeing other tattooed people, including a grocer, doctor, and teacher, all with “memories and lifelong dreams etched artfully on their skin.” His Mama draws attention, he notes, sometimes smiles and sometimes stares, but she has taught him that people like different kinds of art, and he should treat everyone with kindness, tattooed or not. The two of them then visit a tattoo parlor, where the mama gets a new tattoo that expresses a core piece of herself, showing that our life stories and the way we express them are always ongoing.
The whole world is like a museum of art, full of stories to explore, the boy reflects, as we see the image of a diverse group of tattooed people. He asserts that the most beautiful one to him, though, is his mama.
It’s unclear whether the mother is queer; a four-color rainbow tattoo on one arm isn’t a recognizable LGBTQ rainbow. The boy describes her as “proud, out, and unashamed” about her body art, though, which could be seen as a phrasing with an implication of queerness.
Regardless, tattoos are definitely a queer thing (though not exclusively), so I’m including the book in this database for the many queer parents who will likely find resonance with it. (Additionally, a woman in one of the group images has pink hair and a rainbow shirt in the traditional six-color flag, too, and seems more clearly to be intended as queer.)
Author-illustrator Hana Acabado has here given families of all identities, LGBTQ or not, a joyous and affirming story of parenthood and community, of being kind despite difference, and of being unafraid to share one’s story with the world. Highly recommended.
The boy and his mother have light tan skin.
