MA MERE EST BIZARRE Rachna Gilmore Illustrated by Brenda Jones; translated by Raymonde Longval Charlottetown, Ragweed Press, 1991. 24pp, paper, $5.95 ISBN 0-921556-20-9. Available in English under the title My Mother is Weird (reviewed vol. XVI1/3 May 1989, p. 136). CIP Kindergarten to Grade 3/Agcs 5 to 8 Reviewed by Patricia Cooper Volume 20 Number 3 1992 May This is an excellent translation into French of Rachna Gilmore's first children's book. She has since written two others, wheniwasalittlegirl and Jane's Loud Mouth (Ragweed Press, 1990). The translator, Raymonde Longval, is best known for her translations of Robert Munsch's stories. The blonde, blue-eyed little girl in this story appears to be completely normal, but she tells the reader that some mornings her mother is weird; sometimes horns grow out of her mother's head, her teeth are long and pointed, and her fingernails look like claws. Why? Because she hasn't had her morning coffee, or because the toilet is plugged. What does the little girl do? She goes to play at a friend's house, naturally. But to her surprise, Marie's normally nice, gentle mother has also turned into a monster because she was up six times during the night with the baby. So she goes home, gives mom the monster a hug, says "1 love you," and mom becomes human again. Will kids find this story funny? The illustrations by Brenda Jones, who has illustrated five other books, are certainly funny if one overlooks the horns and claws. But the depiction of the mother-monster with an addiction to coffee may be offensive to many people in this day and age when there is a struggle against the degrading of women. Will kids understand what 1 hope is the author's bask message - that a hug and an "I love you" can make you feel better? Or will it be overshadowed by the monster-mother image and take away the point of reading the story? Not recommended. Patricia Cooper, Brampton Public Library, Brampton, Ont.