A young boy finds inspiration from each of his separated/divorced parents in this book about finding one’s own voice.
The young protagonist of this story loves receiving notes in his lunchbox from his mom, and drawings from his mama, depending on which of them he’s staying with at the moment. He wants to write like Mom and draw like Mama, but doesn’t think he has the skill. Each parent urges patience.
When a class assignment challenges each student to write a story about a small thing that happened in their life, he draws a blank. He compares his work to that of other students and finds it lacking. In talking with Mama, however, he recalls the story of his favorite stuffed animal, whom he got with Mama when he was missing Mom’s real dog. A subsequent talk with Mom reminds him of a related story, when the two of them got the dog from the shelter. Both are good stories, he thinks, but each is still only half the story.
Then, with the encouragement of his parents and gentle prompting from the teacher, he lands on the story he wants to share for the assignment. He uses both words and pictures to tell about when Mom brought the real dog over to Mama’s house to sniff out the lost stuffie. It’s a story that involves both of his parents, told using talents inspired by each of them. We see how important it was to him to include both of them as part of his whole story.
This is one of a small number of picture books about a child of queer parents who are divorced/separated, and one of even fewer that focuses on their subsequent cooperative lives, rather than on the divorce/separation itself. The book also offers a gentle message about having patience in finding one’s story and the way one wants to tell it, making it a recommended title.
The boy and his mom are White; his mama is Black.
