Amazing Mum by Alison Brown
As we head into Spring, it is inevitable that we begin to see books dedicated to love and those special people in our lives. Amazing Mum is a celebration of all the mums out there and all they do. Author and illustrator, Alison Brown has written a lovely piece about her book, Amazing Mum.
I made ‘Amazing Mum’ as a not-too-serious, cheeky but genuinely heartfelt celebration of mums. Our mums (and I’m including the people who are like mums to us – the carers, aunties, grans and step-mums) do heroic things on a daily basis. Perhaps the amazing part is that they don’t even realise it!
I have always loved watching people, and all the strange and funny episodes that make up everyday life. It’s fascinating to see different moods play out – curiosity, affection, impatience, hilarity – and with children, it’s all amplified. I don’t know why, but I seem to find it easier to portray character and emotions in a mouse or a hippopotamus than a human being. But whether it’s a hedgehog or a giraffe, it’s important to me that each one is as individual as their human versions would be.
I hope that ‘Amazing Mum’ will make adults and children giggle together.
The kids might giggle just because they can see a big bear’s bum sticking out from under the bed. The adults might smile and think, “That’s ME! That’s MY bum sticking out!”, just because anyone who has spent time with a Lego set and a small child will surely recognise themselves right there, under the bed, bum and all.
My cast of characters comes from real life. The closest one to my own mum appears in the form of the ‘sharing mum’, as mine is incapable of popping out for a pint of milk without having at least one conversation per every aisle of the supermarket. Of course, this is a lovely trait, although – as illustrated – not always appreciated by those with places to go in a hurry!
The scene ‘They love us, small or grown’ takes me back to my granny. One of her grown-up sons, my uncle, had a television shop around the corner from her home, and he used to pop round for lunch a couple of days a week. There was such an air of contentment between them. They hardly spoke. Or they might just exchange a few words about my granny’s woodwork class, which she had just joined at the age of seventy. Mums are amazing in so many ways.
There are lots of lovely books celebrating mums. My own approach in ‘Amazing Mum’ is to use a bit of silliness to celebrate the quirky characteristics and funny moments that become a special part of a family’s story. I think humour is one of the best, and sometimes most accessible, ways to express big feelings.
‘Amazing Mum’ might be quite a quick read. I hope that it will be giggled over together as something funny and light-hearted with a few moments of recognition! But I also hope that it’s a book that will open out into long conversations and sharing of memories, and that it will make mums and caregivers feel celebrated in all that they do!
Amazing Mum by Alison Brown is published by FarShore and is available from today!
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.