You Be Mommy

March 30, 2020
A tuckered-out mother requests a role reversal in this playful rhyming picture book. Regaling a young child with her day’s tasks (“She worked all day at the computer store./ Came home to a big mess on the floor!”), the bespectacled, brown-skinned mom sweetly requests that her daughter “Read me a story and pat my tummy?/ Wipe my nose when it gets runny?” In Clark’s repeating exhortation: “Mommy’s too tired to be Mommy tonight.” Her daughter gamely attempts to facilitate a nighttime routine but, in classic fashion, soon finds herself getting tired, too. Vibrant digital illustrations by Persico portray a comfortable home for the duo’s gentle game. Though Mommy’s plight is easy to emphathize with, there’s no hint of resentment: this mama may be exhausted, but she loves her kid all the same. Ages 2–6.