My Mommy, My Mama, My Brother, and Me

What child doesn’t love a family outing to the beach to search for treasures left in the sand? Okay, I’m sure there are some out there, but for these two brothers, any time the fog disappears, and the sun comes out, they love to head to the waterfront with their moms in search of new and exciting discoveries. Every few pages, readers are presented with specific items and accompanying terms, along with the repeated stanza, “And these are the things we find by the sea, My mommy, my mama, my brother, and me.”

Beautiful watercolours accompany Natalie Meisner’s rhyming stanzas; Mathilde Cinq-Mars’ style delightfully emulates the effects of sun, wind, and fog on the brightly painted buildings in a tiny waterfront town. As the family walks the beaches, readers are presented with breezy panoramas featuring the family holding onto their hats, hair and scarves flowing in the breeze, reeds waving and bending along the coastline, and seagulls floating on the coastal winds.
Early pages feature just one or two stanzas which create an accessible and effective pattern. Later on, however, an increasing amount of text causes some pages to feel overly crowded, interfering with the illustrations. Overall, though, this book is not only a fun and breezy (pun intended) read, conjuring up the feeling of going to the beach, but it is also informative and educational for youngsters who are unfamiliar with some of the things one might find on the shore, such as a mermaid’s purse, a plover nest and urchins.

Additionally, the fact that the boys are part of a mixed race, two mom family is refreshing and helps to further normalize happy same-sex parental relationships within the world of children’s books. An author’s note discusses the delights of living by the ocean but also notes the difficulties of being different in such a small town.

My Mommy, My Mama, My Brother, and Me is truly a lovely picture book that will inform and delight both adults and children.