cover image Mommy Poems

Mommy Poems

John Micklos, Jr.. Boyds Mills Press, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-56397-849-4

Mothers rule in two books of poetry. Mommy Poems, John Micklos Jr.'s follow-up to Daddy Poems, includes a preponderance of his own poetry, plus those of Lee Bennett Hopkins, Arnold Adoff, Nikki Giovanni and Aileen Fisher. The poems trace the cycle of a day, beginning with Jane Medina's soothing ""Waiting for Mommy to Wake Up,"" expressed by a child wakened in the night, and closing with Rebecca Kai Dotlich's exquisite ""Tucking-In Song."" Some mothers may raise an eyebrow at 1950s images of a wife mending her husband's shirt or going to a tea party. Lori McElrath-Eslick's paintings tend to obscure facial expressions but set a serene mood. (Mar.)