A young child of unspecified gender introduces readers to their mommy and mama, and to the separate houses they live in with each one. In one house is a dog, and in another a cat; each mother does different things with the child, from arts and crafts to watching sports on TV. Both show up to watch the child play in a soccer game. Each also has her own bedtime routine with the child, but “At both houses they whisper, I love you. Goodnight.” One mom has medium-light skin; the other and the child have medium-dark skin.
This simple rhyming book is one of very few that depicts a child of divorced same-sex parents. I like that it doesn’t try pedantically to explain what divorce is, but just focuses on the positive things that the child does with each mom—and the scene at the soccer game shows that the moms are still committed to supporting the child together, even though they live apart. The ending, reinforcing that both parents are thinking and caring about the child whether they are present or not, is just lovely.
