Are+You+My+Mother?

//__**Are You My Mother?**__// __**by P.D. Eastman**__

Book Review by Amanda Furegno

__**Biographical Data:**__

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 *  ISBN-13: 9780394800189
 * Author/Illustrator: P.D. Eastman
 *  Publisher: Random House Children's Books
 *  Publication date: 6/28/1960
 * Series: I Can Read It All By Myself Beginner Books Series
 *  Text: Hardcover $7.48 (Barnes and Noble)
 *  Pages: 72
 *  Age range: 5 - 8 Years

__**Summary:**__

A mother bird awaits the hatching of her baby bird, figures that he will be hungry when he hatches, and goes off to find food for him. Lo and behold, as soon as she leaves the nest, the baby bird hatches and, wondering where his mother bird is, goes on an epic adventure to find her. He asks various creatures, my favorites being a kitten and a "snort," if each one is his mother. By the end of the story, the baby bird and his mother are reunited at last. When he finally meets her, he goes through the list of creatures he had encountered on his adventure, none of which described his mother.

__**Review:**__  This was my absolute favorite book as a child. The repetitiveness of the baby bird's "are you my mother?" makes the story easy for young children to follow. Not only is it a great way for children to grasp predictability, but it also makes it impossible to forget the name of the book if you read it more than once. I still appreciate the book's semi-subtle humorous moments of the kitten just staring at the baby bird in response to his question and the baby bird's application of the sound that the "snort" makes as its name.  __**Analysis of a Literary Element:**__  The writing style in this book is very particular. It is simple, but also has humorous subtleties as well. As stated above, the repetitiveness is great for young children because the constant "are you my mother?'s" make it impossible to lose track of what is happening in the story. If a child's mind somehow wanders astray, the illustrations bring it right back because they match the words on the page almost exactly. The humorous tone of the book is memorable to young children especially, as mentioned before, the kitten's blank stare and the made-up name "snort." These elements hold children's attention and keep them engaged in the story. The use of "snort" also helps children differentiate between words and nonsense words while the rest of the story itself aids in letter, word, and sentence recognition. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__**About the Author:**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Beloved children’s book author and illustrator Philip Dey Eastman—who wrote under the pen name P. D. Eastman—was born November 25, 1909, in Amherst, Massachusetts. After attending preparatory school at Phillips Academy and Williston Academy, he graduated from Amherst College in 1933. He then went on to study at the National Academy of Design in New York City. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">P. D. Eastman was one of the stars of the Beginner Books line with beloved classics like Are You My Mother?; Go, Dog. Go!; The Best Nest; and more!

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