Will You Take Care of Me? [Hardcover]

Margaret Park Bridges (Author), Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1998 | Age Level: 2 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Will You Take Care of Me is a warm, imaginat ive story that gently reminds young ones of a parent''s unwav ering devotion. No matter how her child grows or changes, Ma ma will always be there. '

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the tradition of Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny (and the myriad other titles in a crowded category) comes this sweet if derivative picture book debut about a mother's enduring love. This time out it's a mother kangaroo who reassures her joey that she will love him (or her?the gender is indeterminate) and take care of him no matter how old he gets or how he changes. "What if I turned into a field of flowers?" he asks while passing such a field on the way home. "I'd breathe in the wonderful smell of you," she answers. The game continues as the pair progresses through the child's bedtime routine: "What if I became a bar of soap?/ I'd hold you tight so you wouldn't slip away." The phrasing has a gentle read-aloud rhythm and the sentiment expressed is timeless and universal, but both adults and children will feel they've heard this comforting text before. Sweet's (Fiddle-I-Fee: A Farmyard Song) cozy multimedia and watercolor illustrations, awash in springy greens, yellows and blues, energize this outing. Some of the compositions are very childlike, others appear to incorporate thread embroidered on paper, still others use collage. What the text lacks in originality can be found in the art. Ages 2-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-Little Kangaroo is worried that Mama's love might come to an end, asking her "when I'm big, will you still take care of me?" Mama answers, "Of course. As long as I can make your life better and help you grow." As the pair bicycle home, the child notices their surroundings and incorporates them into a series of questions: "But what if I became...an apple tree?" "What if I turned into a field of flowers?" "What if I turned into a house?" Mama plays along, answering each question in reassuring tones. While the sentiments expressed are sweet and loving, and the watercolor illustrations are soft and cozy in a gentle way, this is not a new idea. Margaret Wise Brown's Runaway Bunny (HarperCollins, 1942) and Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You? (Candlewick, 1995) are much more successful. Overall, the mother kangaroo's dialogue is too saccharine. Consider this title for youngsters with a sweet tooth.
Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Sousa Elementary School, Port Washington, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688151949
• ISBN-13: 978-0688151942
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,393,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Park Bridges was born in New York City and raised in Portland, Oregon. She started writing poetry and won the Academy of American Poets Prize while attending Bowdoin College. She wrote a one-act comedy called "Looking Out," which was made into a short film by a film student at NYU and also performed at the Quaigh Theater in New York City and in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she was married. After moving to Massachusetts, she won the Special Award for Excellence in Japan's Suntory Mystery Fiction Competition for "My Dear Watson." Later, when her daughters were young, she wrote several children's picture books. She is pleased to see "My Dear Watson" in print again--this time finally in English! She works for an educational publisher in Boston and lives with her haiku poet husband in Littleton, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A winner -- this book is a terrific gift, too., August 11, 2000

By 

"nymom" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Will You Take Care of Me? (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful story, in question and answer format, of a young one and its mother heading home. As they go, Baby wonders if Mother would still take care of it if it was something else -- animate or inanimate. A number of possibilities are ventured, and Mother answers, as mothers do, that she will be there in some perfect way to take care of Baby. The illustrations are warm and cozy and this is a terrific read. This book deserves much more attention than it has apparently received, as it communicates a message that is very comforting to young children.

This book also makes a terrific present.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful expression of unconditional love, November 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Will You Take Care of Me? (Library Binding)

Author does an excellent job of telling abut unconditional devotion and love. The young kangaroo is not identified as being either male or female, so every child can imagine him or herself as having this conversation with a loved adult. Wonderful addition to bedtime rituals or cozy one-on-one time!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars emotionally evocotive and inspriational, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Will You Take Care of Me? (Hardcover)

I found the book to depict in an excellent way the unspoken between a parent and child. The depth of the author's understanding the emotional bond is clear and profound. The illustrations are wonderfully crafted, and lend significantly to the narrative.