Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me [Hardcover]

Cari Best (Author), Niki Daly (Illustrator, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995 | Age Level: 4 and up

After taking the train downtown, Lizzie spends the day at the public library, helping her mother who is a children's librarian.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When her grandma catches the flu, Lizzie gets to commute downtown with Mama, who is a children's librarian. Although it is an ordinary day for her mother, to Lizzie it is filled with wondrous experiences: the subway "roaring out of the darkness like a hungry lion"; the noisy, "mirror shiny" city; the vast library and its employees, who include Lizzie in their work duties and at lunchtime. The action is low-key-Best (Taxi! Taxi!) wisely realizes that an average workday needs no embellishment to enthrall a child. Awash in affection and Lizzie's growing sense of belonging, the day rises from the humdrum to the near magical. Daly (One Round Moon and a Star for Me) bolsters this effect with understated, slightly squiggly watercolors that are winsome and benevolent toward Best's gracious characters. Discovering kindness and satisfaction in the mysterious world of adult work, Lizzie (and young readers) just might feel better about saying good-bye in the mornings to come. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1?A warm, wonderful story. Lizzie is sure her mother is the most important person in the city, because Mama is a children's librarian and, on this very special day, Lizzie is going to work with her. Lizzie knows that "'If I had Mama's job, I'd look at books all day, smell them, and take home all the ones with new covers.'" However, the story clearly depicts Mama's other duties, including story time, when her daughter gets to be the Big Bad Wolf. Daly's splendid watercolors expand the tale with delicious details of city and library life and feature a multicultural cast. The parent/child relationship depicted is reminiscent of Daly's own Papa Lucky's Shadow (1992) and Not So Fast, Songololo (1986, both McElderry). Don't miss this gem.?Virginia Opocensky, formerly at Lincoln City Libraries, NE
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531094529
• ISBN-13: 978-0531094525
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #501,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully entertaining book to read with your child, May 2, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me (Library Binding)

This is an excellent book to read aloud with your pre-school or kindergarden age child. I found it as entertaining as my three year old daughter did, and it triggered my own nostalgia for living and working in New York City. The book is about a little girl who goes to work for the day with her mother, a children's librarian, in what appears to be New York City. It contains many elements that children are curious about - what do their parents do all day at work? could they help with their parent's work? It also has a "story within a story" - the little girl helps her mother read "The Three Little Pigs" out loud. The book includes a diverse range of characters and the illustrations are amusing.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very sweet, September 17, 2008

By 

Ulyyf "Connie" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me (Library Binding)

To be honest, this story is almost a little *too* sweet. The girl's conviction that HER MOM is the very best at everything - she's "the most important person in the city" and she "gets more mail than the president", and of course she's "so smart" and "so beautiful" - while this is probably heartfelt it is also a little over the top.

I'm being overly critical, I know. It's still a good book. Just... a little overly *sweet*.

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Highly!, December 21, 2004

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red light, green light, mama and me (Paperback)

This is a sweet book about a girl going to work with her librarian mother for the day. A real delight.