Time Together: Me and Mom

March 31, 2014
Mother and their children bond through activities like preparing food (“Tasty cooking time”) and selecting clothes (“What-to-wear time”). Animator Campion’s willowy digital art gives the characters vitality: a golden-haired mom and child dash through the grass with butterfly nets; elsewhere, a boy and his mother strike similar facial expressions while concentrating on “Creative quiet time.” Catherine (a pseudonym for writers Kay Maria Fraser and Christianne Catherine Jones) and Campion depict both the universal and deeply personal value of cherished moments. Available simultaneously: Time Together: Me and Dad. Ages 2–6. Illustrator’s agency: Shannon Associates.

July 1, 2014
Each book depicts parents and kids participating in wide-ranging activities, from "Cookie baking time" in Dad to "Chugga-chugga choo-choo time" in Mom, both ending with "Sweet dream time." The interactions are endearing and simple but unexpected, while the digital-looking art is exuberantly rendered and diverse in representation; both text and illustrations avoid gender stereotypes without forcing an agenda.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)