Mothers' Day is nearly upon us again. It's a time of flowers, cards,
dinners and all sorts of expressions of appreciation to the women who
raised us. One man who clearly does not limit his gratitude to his mom
to Mothers' Day is Bradley Trevor Greive, who, since writing and
compiling The Blue Day Book, has become a gift book power house, with two of his small volumes devoted to the subject of mothers.
First came Dear Mom. Then, a few years later, just in case we hadn't gotten the point, he came out with The Incredible Truth About Motherhood.
While the first addresses Mom directly, the second is an ode to her for
the benefit of the rest of us, lest we forget how hard our mothers work
to ensure that we have a good life. Instead of saying, "Gee, Mom,
thanks!" it's saying, "Gee, you should really thank your mom." It covers
pretty similar territory, but that's okay. It's a message worth reading
twice, and with a different set of zany animals to accompany Greive's
sometimes wise, something wacky words, it's an entirely different
experience.
It's also a good 30 pages longer, which means even
more entertainment and warmth for your ten bucks. Throughout the 107
pages, it's the nearly full-page black-and-white pictures that really
capture the attention, many featuring adult animals with youngsters, not
necessarily of the same species, which emphasizes the fact that mothers
needn't have a biological connection to be nurturing. Of course, for
every cozy moment of mother and child snuggled softly together, there's
another in which the little darlings are wreaking havoc. We get a lot of
shots of mothers looking harassed as Greive reminds us again and again
what twerps kids can be and how much patience is at times required in
order to put up with them.
Throughout his books, Greive seems
to have a slight bias against men, and this comes to light here when he
gives fathers a couple of passing mentions, brushing them aside as lazy,
ungrateful oafs (who always happen to be portrayed by grumpy gorillas).
It's brief and exaggerated enough that I don't take it too seriously,
but in light of the rather vindictive Looking for Mr. Right, I
can't help but view those pages with some distaste. Then again, there
are unflattering portraits of children in this book and even
occasionally of mothers, so mainly I think Greive is encouraging us to
laugh at our shortcomings. And then to do something about them.
He wants children and husbands to take time out to thank the woman of
the house, and not just on Mothers' Day. But that is a good day to
start, so if you are stumped for a gift for Mom, pick up The Incredible Truth About Motherhood and give her something to smile about.
A small sampling of the treasures to be found within:
"So in no small way, our world is in their tiny hands. But whose hands
are they in?" (7, a young baboon studying a small globe in its hand
while its mother gazes intently at it)
"They will be in the
picture for virtually every hour of every day for at least the next two
decades." (22, a baby koala peeking over the head of its mother)
"'I want an ice cream!'" (43, a baby hippo bellowing at its unimpressed mother)
"But throughout all of this, a mother never loses sight of her loving
purpose: to walk beside her child through life's difficult journey."
(87, a young elephant walking beside its mother)
There's a lot more where that came from. Celebrate the selfless contributions of your own mother with Bradley Trevor Greive.
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