Ages 3^-6. In this sweet and moving story, Joseph is a boy who loves to read. Each library day, the school librarian gives him one easy book to read to himself and a harder book for his mother to read to him. His mother, however, is tired from working as a maid in a hotel, so one of their friends reads with Joseph. When the friend moves, Joseph hopes Mama will pick up the job, but it eventually comes out that she is unable to read. Rahaman gives subtle clues along the way that Joseph's mother can't read; certainly adults will pick them up, but children may not. Still, they will get the idea that it is not unwillingness on Mama's part that keeps her from sharing books but something more. The scene in which Mama admits in church that she is illiterate is brave and sad. Rejoicing comes after Mama takes adult classes and is finally able to read with Joseph. The thick-lined oil paintings are well executed and capture the warmth between a mother and son who want the best for each other. Ilene Cooper
From Kirkus Reviews
A young boy's desperate wish for his mother to read to him forces her to come to terms with her own illiteracy. Joseph is the only child of a single, working mother and so hungry for knowledge that he corrals every available adult to read to him. The school librarian gives him two books each week: one to read on his own, and a more difficult one for someone else to read to him. Joseph's mama is a great storyteller, but is always too busy to read to Joseph. When Joseph's mentor from the local laundromat, Mr. Beharry, is unexpectedly called away, Joseph again presses his mother into action. She breaks down, weeping, and tries to tell him the truth, which he doesn't fully understand until she prays for help the following Sunday in church. A fellow worshiper tells Joseph's mother about the vocational school where she eventually learns to read, capable, in the last scene, of reading to her son. Rahaman (see review, above) creates a poignant story that is at its best in simple moments, as when Joseph's mother misses a schedule change at work because (readers realize) she couldn't read the posting. Painterly illustrations by McElrath-Eslick work in harmony with the text, showing the warmth between Joseph and his mother, as well as their humble, homey surroundings. (Picture book. 6-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Read for Me, Mama ... is a big picture book with rich illustrations painted in oils.... It tells about a little boy who is learning to read, and who also loves to be read aloud to. Eventually, after repeatedly urging his mother to read to him, he finds that she does not know how, a fact she confesses with tears. The story ends with her going back to school. -- The New York Times Book Review, Natalie Babbitt About the Author
Vashanti Rahaman is the author of O Christmas Tree (Boyds Mills Press), illustrated by Frane Lessac. Born in Dominica, West Indies, she now lives in Rolla, Missouri.
Lori McElrath-Eslick is the illustrator of Does God Know How to Tie Shoes? by Nancy White-Carlstrom. She lives in North Muskegon, Michigan.
