Mama's Home

Mama's Home

A gorgeously illustrated picture book that is a powerful love letter to chosen families and the village that raises us. A young girl basks in the love of her community--which includes not only her mother but the many different women who make up her world. Home can be a blue house with white trim you share with your mama. But it can be bigger than that, with lots of Big Mamas to take care of you when your mom works—different houses for every day of the week. Mondays mean Nurse Louella and bike riding. Tuesdays mean eating fufu with your fingers with Miss Zikora. And Wednesdays . . . well, no matter where you are, as long as you are with your Big Mamas, you are home. A girl basks in the warmth of her community in this powerful love letter to chosen families and the villages that raise us, from Pushcart Prize-winning author Shay Youngblood and popular illustrator Lo Harris. PreS-Gr 3—This lively picture book will have readers considering all the people that influence their lives, every day. The main character, a Black girl, spends every day of the week with a different loving member of her extended chosen family, each of them showing her the diversity of cultures within the Black community as well as different job opportunities. Well-crafted spreads showcase a different food and a different job that the family members are sharing with one another and the community. The main character appreciates all of them, but is happy to be home with her own mama, tucked in her own bed, at the end of the week. In every home she was loved and welcomed; in every setting she was cherished and yet relishes her own place with Mama best. The stylized art, featuring a variety of skin tones, hair styles, body types, family households, and definitions of "home," is warm and cheerful, adding to the joy of the story. VERDICT This would be a wonderful addition to an elementary library seeking books to show the diversity of African American culture as well as all the ways there are to be family.—Debbie Tanner ★ "A joyful, heartfelt celebration of family—born and chosen—and community, of Black womanhood and expressions of love." — Kirkus Reviews , starred review “A rich chosen-family story of love, care, and community .” — The Horn Book Georgia-born writer Shay Youngblood is author of the novels Black Girl in Paris and Soul Kiss (Riverhead Books) and a collection of short fiction, The Big Mama Stories (Firebrand Books). Her plays have been widely produced. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a Pushcart Prize for fiction. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University and has taught Creative Writing at NYU. She currently lives in Atlanta. Lo Harris is an illustrator and motion designer based in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Bessemer, Alabama and, from the time her family had a computer, she would spend hours on Microsoft Paint. She currently works as an Associate Animator at NBC News Digital, and has previously done work for The New York Times , Bustle and The Chicago Reporter . Lo seeks to creates work that empowers women through celebrations of self-love, self-compassion and sisterhood.