MY MOTHER’S VOICE

The cover image, of a young girl and her mom in the kitchen using serving spoons as their microphones while they sing, is a key to this resonant and openhearted paean to the sound of a mother’s voice. The daughter begins her day with her mother calling her “from darkness to light” as she wakes up. Her mother’s laughter and warmth draw the girl to breakfast and out to the day, “[wrapping] her words around me.” Mother hums in the backyard, cheers at the ballgame, whispers for comfort and above all, says her daughter’s name with infinite tenderness. Catalanotto captures light and shadow magically; his grounded figures with their sculptural solidity, well-worn colors and edges blurred by the softness of memory inhabit a real world of remote controls and regal house cats. Supple, sweet and satisfying. (Picture book. 5-9)