cover image My Mother Is So Smart!

My Mother Is So Smart!

Tomie dePaola, . . Putnam, $16.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-399-25442-0

A young narrator praises his mother for such maternal deeds as knowing when to change his diaper when he was a baby, baking “the best” cookies, and serving a warm breakfast when it's cold out. More diverting are revelations of her spunkiness: she teaches him to dance the polka, takes him to school in grandfather's antique truck, and shows kids how to write their initials in the air with sparklers. Pastel borders frame spare, warm portraits of mother and son: as the mother faces readers, fresh Popsicles at the ready, she resembles no less then a modern-day saint. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)