Monique Mulligan (text), Veronica Rooke (illus.), My Silly Mum, Serenity Press, 8 May 2016, 30pp., $22.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780994526557
Monique Mulligan is a new Australian children’s writer. She is a former journalist and editor and co-director of Serenity Press. My Silly Mum is her first picture book.
Reading My Silly Mum, made me smile. It begins with a daughter complaining about her mother who does lots of embarrassing things. For example, she dances with the vacuum cleaner, sings weird songs, hides her phone in the fridge and says strange things.
I related to the mother’s energy, felt the daughter’s uneasy reaction to her mother’s crazy antics and loved the warm-hearted twist at the end.
There is a terrific interplay between the text and the brightly coloured cartoon illustrations by Veronica Rooke. Veronica has cleverly added a couple of extra characters not included in the text.
I like the use of the hand-written, different-sized font, the occasional speech bubble and the bold colours. This all makes this book a very enjoyable reading experience for kids and adults.
I recommend My Silly Mum to children 3 years and older. I look forward to more picture books from Monique Mulligan.
Reviewed by Wendy Fitzgerald
