Customer Reviews

Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons

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"Mama Says" is a beautiful children's book of inspiring thoughts spoken from mothers to sons in twelve different languages and cultural settings. "Mama Says" is beautifully illustrated by award-winning artists Leo and Diane Dillon, with a small square of fabric as a symbol for each mother of each nationality on the lower left side of each page of sayings. In addition to the beautiful colorful illustrations of twelve different cultural backgrounds, each saying is also flawlessly presented in the appropriate language of the culture, alongside the English version. Thus we have not only a picture of another culture's background and traditions, we also get to see its actual script and written language. The languages and cultures presented include Cherokee, Russian, Amharic, Japanese, Hindi, Inuktitut, Hebrew, English, Korean, Arabic, Quechua, and Danish. Further enhancing the racial and cultural diversity, the English example shows a handsome young black boy with his mother, walking carrying books against a background of signshakers reading "hate." The English saying is "Mama says/To be on time/ Mama says/ Be neat/ Mama says/ To walk with pride/ And never drag my feet (p. 20)." The final two page illustration shows all twelve boys together, grown up, with hands on each others' shoulders. The saying is "I listened to what Mama said/ And now I am a man (p.29-30)." "Mama Says" is a children's book so compellingly moving and beautiful that it made me weep. Teaching children the strong underlying message of respect and honor for our diversity is stunningly accomplished in "Mama Says." Strongly recommended for ages preschool through second grade (3-8).

This book was given to me as a gift. I absolutely love it. Settings, animals, fabrics, and the faces of the people are rendered brilliantly. The portraits of families span history and the globe -- highlighting both gorgeous unique specifics (including text of various languages) and the universality of human beings, simultaneously.

I'm already listing the moms I want to give this book to this mother's day. To the woman who gave it to me, on the chance you may be reading this, thank you. I love you, friend.

To the moms of early readers ... the text is spot on for reading together with your sons and daughters.

p.s. - To the reviewer who said that any mom would be moved to a tear at the end, I completely agree. I'm not a mother and I enjoyed several tears at the end. . . . that image of all those beautiful young men is so inspiring.

In addition to a great gift for a mom, it would also be a great book to a son, even a grown one. My five year-old loves this book, which our wonderful librarian recommended. Very simple and beautiful, we highly recommend it. I need to buy a copy now as we reluctantly return it to the library.

This is an incredible multi-cultural children's book that has BEAUTIFUL illustrations of the depictions of mothers and their little boys of various ethnicities. Not only do we get to see this beautiful art work, but the touching verse on each page is also written in that particular culture's language along side the English. And at the very end of the book, any mom would be moved to a tear...
I would even say that this would be a GREAT Mother's Day gift from any full-grown son to his mother.

In this gorgeous picture book for young ones, author Rob D. Walker and award-winning illustrators (Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, et al.) Leon & Diane Dillon celebrate the universal love between mothers and sons in rhymes from around the world. Timeless virtues such as honesty, courage, and a caring heart are extolled in simple, rhythmic verse that rocks and soothes in lullaby tones: "Mama says be loving/Mama says be caring/Mama says you've done God's will/Every time you're sharing." Each rhyme is depicted in the script of its original language with the English translation mirrored alongside. Russian, Amharic, Danish, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Quechua, Hebrew and Inuktitut are the languages represented. The text is crisp, the layouts are perfect, and the beautiful illustrations evoke eloquently the relationship between the mother of each nation and her young son. The words give voice to the spirit of each country and the corresponding costumes and scenery are rendered masterfully in naturalistic artwork that is splendidly evocative of culture and place. On the final page is a fabulous two-page group portrait of the boys now grown to manhood: "I listened to what Mama said/And now I am a man."

There is a small patterned square at the bottom of each page corresponding to a key at the back of the book. The key is easy to understand and identifies the country as well as offering interesting information about its language.
I heartily recommend MAMA SAYS for every preschool, elementary school and library, and for any personal collection. This book would be perfect for lap-sits and other children's reading programs, as well as for parents to enjoy with their children at home.

Although this book has only one page that is nominally "Jewish," the theme of love between parent and child and desire to make the world a better place is profoundly Jewish. The illustrations are spectacular, with each one worthy of framing. To help identify the different ethnic groups in the story, the illustrators choose a particular piece of cloth with a distinctive design to represent each nationality. Cherokee, Russian, Amharic, Japanese, Hindi, Inuktituit, Hebrew, English, Korean, Arabic, Quechua, and Danish languages are all used to express the message of love each child is given by his mother. Although clothes and language distinguish each ethnicity, the artists refrained from stereotyping the people portrayed; however, the costumes of each character are more traditional than modern dress. The Japanese woman is wearing a kimono, the Native American is wearing deerskin, etc. This is a beautiful book that points out the wishes and teachings that people everywhere share with their children. Susan Dubin