My New Mom & Me

Mexican author-illustrator Galindo (The Cherry Thief) offers an understated but emotionally intense account of a mother and her adopted child “learning how to be a family.” Galindo’s digital illustrations have a crayonlike softness, and she pictures the child (who narrates, and whose gender is unspecified) as a golden dog. Its mother is an orange cat with brown stripes, highlighting how adoptive family members don’t necessarily look alike, especially in cases of transracial adoption. Pared-down backgrounds (a couple trees and a gently curving hill define a park, during an outing away from home) keep the focus on the dog’s emotions. The closing idea that “Mom is learning how to be my mom, and I am learning how to be Mom’s kid” is a powerful one for both adoptive parents and their children. Ages 3–7. [em]Agent: Kendra Marcus, Bookstop Literary. (Mar.) [/em]