Mummy! Where are You?

Charmaine Oates

Jelena Jordanovic-Lewis

Little Steps, 2021

32pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

 9781922358912

Mummy! Where are you?’
Today is Charlie’s favourite day of the week – it’s stay-at-home-with-Mummy day!
But it’s Mum’s only day off from work and she has a lot to do! Moving from room to room, Mummy is too quick for Charlie to keep up but by lifting the flaps, he is always able to find her.

This is a charming story that will resonate with both parent and child as sometimes it seems the only escape from the cry of “Mummy, where are you?’ is to take refuge in the loo.  (And even then, it’s not always a hideaway.)  But because it is so familiar it is ideal for sharing with our youngest readers because they can readily recognise the situations, see themselves as Charlie, and by using their existing knowledge of the context, predict  where mummy is and what she is doing before lifting the flaps.   

Before even learning the skills of reading itself, there are many concepts about print to be understood, the first being that stories are fun, and this book offers all the elements of that as well as celebrating the special relationship between  mother and little one, even when doing the most mundane things.   Sharing the book together adds another layer to that bond.