Shaped by Love: An Ode to Mom Bods

Maternal love forms the backbone of this tender “ode to mom bods” that feels directed as much toward adult readers as toward children interested in their own beginnings. Powers’s second-person free verse opens with acknowledgment of the prenatal and postpartum periods as transformative times: “And then you arrived.// And I arrived too.” Proceeding lines segue into awe for the gestating body, highlighting its strength as well as the support and comfort it can provide (“My squish is my love,/ a resting place for your worries./ My new marks are reminders/ of the warrior inside”) across time and function (“This body that carried you/ has carried me too”). Cut-paper collage and embroidery on canvas lend Calatzi’s depth-filled paintings further energy and texture as figures of various abilities and skin tones connect in outdoor and indoor settings, with geometric thread motifs connecting the joy-filled scenes. Ages 4–8. (Dec.)