Mars Needs Moms!

by: Berkeley Breathed

Published by: Philomel

Reviewed by Jamie Driggers

What’s so great about mothers? They just make you eat food that you don’t want and enforce hard work. They even send you to your room without dinner, those humorless tyrants. Who need them?

Apparently Martians. They don’t have moms, after all. So when they land and swipe his mom, Milo doesn’t stop to wonder why he’s chasing them, he just does. And on this extraordinary adventure, he also figures out what makes moms so special.

With candy-colored, vivid illustrations, Mars Needs Moms! will have all kids pouring over the pages. It is a fun, if not a little clunky, read-aloud full of alliteration and subtlety. Breathed uses extensive vocabulary (as recommended in The Read-Aloud Handbook (Trelease) to build the listening vocabulary of young readers) that might bring a few complaints from some, but it doesn’t detract from the story. If anything it adds. This story also has the additional benefit of pointing out what self-sacrificing people mothers really are…without making it overly obvious to the kids.

And I just have to comment on the genius of the illustrations. My favorite is of the Martians who are trying to lure an unsuspecting mother with a Starbucks latte. The mom just stands and stares, desperately wanting the caffeine fix, but with groceries on both hips, a purse and a shopping bag in her hands, and a baby strapped onto her chest, she couldn’t possibly stoop to pick it up. Perfect!

Armchair Interviews says: Nice complementary words and illustrations to make a fun book.

Author’s Web site: http://www.BerkeleyBreathed.com