Synopsis: She's nice, my mum ...My mum's a fantastic cook,and a brilliant juggler. She's a great painter,and the strongest woman in the world! She's really nice, my mum. A warm, funny tribute to Mum (and to mums everywhere) by the brilliant author/illustrator Anthony Browne.

Review: Before opening My Mum one is reminded of its precursor, My Dad (2000). The size of the book, the layout and style of the front cover illustration and of course the title and subject matter, are all reminiscent of the earlier text.

In writing this book Anthony Browne has given us the perfect sequel to My Dad and the two go together beautifully as a celebration of parents, and as ideal gifts for both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day! Indeed prior to reading the text one notes that the book is dedicated to two quite special mums, “Our Doris”, Browne’s own mum, and Jane, the mother of their children.

As always with Anthony Browne’s work the words and pictures work in parallel with each other, they are inextricably linked and interact to enable the reader to make sense of the text at many different levels. Superficially the text seems simple and it begins by describing what this mum, and by implication all mums, is good at, however it soon becomes apparent that the mum being described is no ordinary mum. Some conventional “mum type” characteristics are depicted such as cooking and shopping. However, some more unexpected traits are soon revealed, including juggling and magic gardening. Browne then starts to work his magic making excellent use of verbal metaphors and similes mixed with visual intertext to convey the fact that this mum is the best mum ever. He juxtaposes divinity with power, portraying mum singing like an angel then roaring like a lion; followed by gentleness with strength, here mum is shown as a soft, cute kitten contrasting with her portrayal as a rough, tough rhino. Throughout the book mum is illustrated variously as a beautiful, comforting and yet incredibly strong character, her trademark being the slightly incongruous, (at times), flowery clothes and accessories along with pink fluffy slippers. In this manner Browne leads into the final part of this celebration of mums. Many of them could be anything if they put their mind to it - dancers, astronauts, film stars or company bosses, but ultimately the link between the home life of the person who is our mum and her other, away from home, life is placed into perspective because whatever else our mums are they are first and foremost our own special mum, we love them and they love us.

The last five pages reverberating with echos of My Dad are wonderful, a sheer celebration of what mums stand for in the lives of most of us.

 Well done Anthony Browne, you have done it again. This seemingly simple book is cleverly interwoven with hidden meanings, subtle nuances, warmth and humour …. just like many of our mums in fact. Buy it, read it and see for yourself.

2006-10-15