My Mom Is a Foreigner, But Not to Me

by Julianne Moore

Bestselling author and award-winning actress Julianne Moore pays homage to all the Muttis, Mammas, and Mamans who are from another country. A foreign mom may eat, speak, and dress differently than other moms— she may wear special clothes for holidays, twist hair in strange old-fashioned braids, and cook recipes passed down from grandma. Such a mom may be different than other moms, but...she is also clearly the best. Vividly illustrated by Meilo So, this funny and heartwarming picture book about growing up in multiple cultures celebrates the diverse world in which we live.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Immigration, Childrens, Cultural, Kids, Juvenile

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2013

About the author

Julianne Moore is an American actress.

In October 2007, Moore made her literary debut with the publication of Freckleface Strawberry, a children's book based on her experiences as a child. In April 2009, Moore followed up with a second children's book titled Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully.

Reviews

[Lin Lin]

As a mother from a different culture, I am always described by my children as "weird", "crazy", and "funny". Now I found similar moms in this book, written so brilliantly by Julianne Moore and vividly illustrated by Meilo So. I absolutely love this book and will recommend it to my students as they plan units on cultural universal concepts and units on the topic of immigration for children.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

#30 in my 365 Kids Books challenge and request to Goodreads that the Top Readers, etc. lists be fixed. For a full explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.

Not only is the text enriched by the art, but also by the book design, which is rather more rare. But all three play off one another nicely, with changes in font and placement reinforcing the diversity in mothers and children. Lovely. And I'll be looking for more of So's art.

Library copy

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Julianne Moore and her acting, this is the first book I've read of hers, she is apparently the author ambassador for Save the Children. A young girl is narrating the story and says her mother is a foreigner which isn't a term kids use or know and that mom came over on a BOAT? How often has that happened in the last 50 years? As a teacher of ESOL students, kids accept their parents ways and it isn't just about being polite but about a way of life that kids have also lived with since being a toddler. Yes they do object to some ways that look funny especially in front of other kids. What I found disturbing is the idea that the child would be considered not to know the parent's language yet the book claims the kid's mother teaches her to read and listens to her stories and laughs at her jokes. While there is some acknowledgement that mother understands some English. There is little to nothing to acknowledge that the little girl knows her mom's language, might be taught to read in that language or that the girl needs help from others to learn English and to read in English because her mom can't do it all. I got the feeling from this book that the author is looking at the mother askance and trying to figure how she could parent a child born in the US. I found that insulting to the very people Moore is writing about and wonder if she had problems dealing with her British heritage mom.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just a weird idea for a picture book. It's great to celebrate cultural differences, but this book uses a very strange approach to do so. It's impossible to keep track of the many different voices narrating the story, even though each one is supposedly represented by a different font, and because of that, it's almost impossible to read aloud in a coherent way. Julianne Moore has written other, better picture books, such as the Freckleface Strawberry series, so I wouldn't knock her writing, but this book is one I would skip. (Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan does a much better job of exploring this same topic.)

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a good book for a young child who is starting to realize that his or her parent(s) are, culturally, a little different than some other parents. It would also be a good book for any children living in a diverse community. The rhyme was smoother than I expected it to be, and I enjoyed the illustrations showing people and things from many different countries and cultures. Great message.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet, and loving story

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julianne Moore has always been one of my favorite actors. After reading Lupita Nyongo’s children’s book, i remembered she also wrote children’s book too! Wow what a cute lovely book that will warm the hearts of all children of immigrant parents . My heart is a little fuzzier now.

[Samantha Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, My Mom is a Foreigner, But not to Me, is a book about children who have a mom who is not from this country. It discusses the differences they have from the moms of the children here in America. It talks about the good differences and the differences that annoy some children, but it says that even though some qualities of their mom's who are foreigners are annoying or hard to deal with their kids love them the way they are anyway!

If I was going to read this to a classroom I'd probably read it to a class of 3rd graders. Before reading it I would ask my class a couple of questions to discuss what their moms are like. I would ask them questions such as,"what kind of moms do you have?" or "Can you think of two things that your mom does that makes you happy?" After discussing our moms and the things they do that make us happy I'd read the story. After the story I would say, "Has there ever been something that your mom has done that embarrasses you?" Then I would discuss that even though the book was talking about moms who grew up in different countries but now live here (Discussing the term Foreigners)they have a lot of similarities to the moms of the kids who's parents have grown up here. And if there are any kids in my class who do have foreigners as their parents or even one parent who is from a different country I would ask them to share if they feel comfortable about their mom and the differences and similarities that they see. After discussing this I would have the students take out a piece of paper and right the answer to this question on their paper, "What is the relationship like between you and your mom?" Then I would have them draw a picture of themselves with their mom.

The AR reading level of this book is 2.7 and the interest level is k-3

Moore, J., & So, M. (2013). My Mom Is a Foreigner, But not to Me. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books LLC.

[Edward Creter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julianne Moore is the actress supreme who is now the best-selling author of four kids' books and has won new and younger fans with her winsome wit and trademark insight into how kids feel and live. This from an actress who 1) has dishonored Sarah Palin with a performance I feel was demoralizing (never saw the film on HBO and I've no wish to, even tho' she is a crush of mine); 2) has canoodled with men of all ages 18-up AND women as well on camera (God knows where her mind is now!); 3) has appeared in numerous good films as Fugitive and Jurassic Park 2 the Lost World and sometimes does crap like Short Cuts, End of the Affair and Kids are All Right where she is seen nude (which I admit excites me since NO WAY does a 50-something look THAT GOOD and get away with claiming she's 50!). So it's questionable that such a high-class actress (read prostitute for film posterity) should write for a kids audience. This one, like Freckleface Strawberry's adventures, is based loosely on her own story, this time from her relationship with her mom, who, like with all us New Yorkers, comes from the country marked "other". The point (I think) is to tell kids that if you happen to have a parental figure from the land of Other, it's cool, you should love her or him anyway, which I agree whole-heartedly, but why do I get the sense that JuMo is purveying the message with an attitude that says I'm the Actress and I have won Awards from roles that have defined women as She-roes and therefore since I'm rich and have an Amazing Body I'm Better Than You, Kid! ? Am I wrong? You decide.

[Samara Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Mom Is a Foreigner, But Not to Me is a sweet book about the way children feel about their parents who are from a different country. The main character in the book talks about how their mother came to America. Their parents celebrate and embody the traditions of their culture. Whether it be the type of food they eat, what they wear, or the way they talk. These children sometimes feel upset when people question why they don't look exactly like their parents. Through all these different customs they still love and appreciate their mom. To them they wouldn't change the person their mother is no matter what.

The way the words are written remind me of a poem. The words often rhyme and have a tune to them. "Some people say we look alike, Others wonder: What's her name?, I get so upset when they say, Why don't you look the same" There are some pages that interrupt the flow of the book but the author does a good job at returning to the rhythm of the book. "Sometimes it's hard work, Teaching my mom stuff, But she's learning more each day, She'll be done when I'm grown up."

I really appreciate the illustrations. They specifically show each culture. They are very realistic and true to the culture. The back drop of the book is white and the each segment with a family is filled with color. Each family looks happy and in love with their life. I like how the illustrator keep the idea of having the children look different than the parent. The child doesn't look distressed by this factor but they embrace it and the culture there parent embodies.

[Belinda Holdernesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun and has been written from the perspective of children who have mothers form other cultures. It tells about all the cultural aspects of people’s lives and how tradition it mixed with every day. The author Julianne Moore, wrote the book because of her own experiences with a mother migrating from another culture. I love how it shows how embarrassed children get by what their mothers do and say, “those words sound crazy, other kids don’t kiss three times I MEAN it, it’s not cool, we eat funny foods, I love it. It tastes gross; I put it on my toast. Sometimes she wears weird clothes. I call her mom in public but that’s not her real name.” On the flip side it acknowledges how special each mother is to the child and they wouldn’t change it. Teaching it to a class, about immigration would be simple. It shows different ways children call their mothers, “Mutti, Maman, Mummy, and Mamma” and how families used different words to say the same thing. I enjoy the play on rhyming words as well when teaching it to children, “she’s from another place, with only one suitcase, I won’t bring soup to school, I mean it, it’s not cool.” Along with the text, the art work and drawings from Meilo So, brings the story to life with bright vivid colors that show an array of ethnicities with many combinations of mother and child.

[Ashley Hills · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My Mom Is a Foreigner, But Not to Me” is a poetic, biography-like story from the perspective of children with foreign mothers. The beautiful rhythmic flow of the story, in the lives of 7 mothers and their children, portrays how their mothers are different in their practices of everyday activities, but in the end they are still their mothers. The author, Julianne Moore, captures the voice of the children as she describes the different ways the mother’s talk (“She calls me foreign nicknames, WEE ONE, liebchen, or bebe.”) or how the children call their mothers different names (Mutti, Mom, Maman, Mam, Mummy, Mamma). In the end, Moore sums up that although the mothers may be from different places and practice ways of life in different manners, all of them are still mothers to their children; “She might seem kind of different, and you’d be right to guess, but compared to other Moms, I know that she’s the best.” I appreciate Moore’s personal connection to the story because her mother is a “foreigner” as well as the illustrator’s personal connection, being a “foreign” mother, which makes the cultural perspectives in this text authentic. As a teacher I would use this text to teach the poetry and the use of rhyme as well as the idea that although all families are different, they still hold importance to us all.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Mom is a Foreigner, But Not to Me is a great book to learn about cultural differences. It is also a great fun book, just to read with children. It can make them relate to the types of things that the children in the book talk about. Some children may be in this situation or may know a friend whose parent is foreign.
The author did a great job in the placement of the text, and how he/she used the different fonts and different styles of writing to show the diversity. That is an amazing hidden message, that younger children may not pick up on, but older children should. In some parts of the book, speech bubbles, while in some other parts, it is the typical book text that most people see.
The illustrator did an amazing job in showing the cultural differences in the world. Even though the book takes places in America, it shows how in everyday life, some of the moms we see in life, may not be from America. The illustrator used soft lines to keep the families seem friendly and kind to all readers.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet tribute to those mothers whose backgrounds are different from those of their own children. the author describes her mother's immigration to the United States and how she and other foreign-born moms maintain cultural practices and use terms that others, born in this country, do not know. But in the end, all that really matters is the love that mothers and their children have for each other. The story and watercolor and ink, gouache, and pencil illustrations highlight the experiences of several children who are much more acculturated to this country than their own mothers while also celebrating the unique cultural gifts they provide to their own children. This picture book would be a wonderful introduction to diversity in an elementary classroom.

[Cole Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Mom Is a Foreigner, But Not to Me is a very sweet book from different children's points of view. it talks about the ways in which they feel their mother is different and how sometimes she embarrasses them. They also talk about how they teach their mom's about American life and how to fit in.
I feel that this book can be very helpful to students that feel like they are the only ones whose parents are different. This can bring great comfort to them and help them, and their peers understand their living situation. This book is beautifully illustrated. There is so much going on that it can take a while to take in everything that is going on in the page. This book is a great resource to have as a teacher, librarian, or concerned parent.

[Megan Eckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary
This is s story about different mothers from all over the world. Even though she dresses different, talks different, and has different traditions, she isn’t a foreigner to her child. She is just their mom!

Activity
Have a class discussion about what the theme of the book is (Bloom’s Level 4). Then, make paper machete globes to hang around the room. Spend a week or so talking about different countries and learning about different cultures.

APA Citation
Moore, J., & Meilo, S. (2013). My Mom Is a Foreigner, But Not to Me (1st ed., p. 40). San Francisco, California: Chronicle.

[Ro Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working with students whose parents are learning or do not know the English language where children become interpreters and teachers of a new culture for their parents, I love how this story addresses this issue, how it must feel to be teaching the person who is responsible for you, who you think knows the way the world works. I like the honesty and I love how the author circles back to look at the adult who might seem quirky, might embarrass the child, or feel a bit like a load to explore all the adult does know and do for their child, like no one else can. I imagine young readers with mamas who are "foreigners" going, "that's so true, my mamma does that for me, she's the best mamma!"

[Amy Allgeier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this book. It was a neat idea to have this from a child's perspective because I think that many kids do feel this way.

I liked all of the different cultures thrown in there, but then it made it hard to follow the dialogue. Maybe if she stuck with one culture for a bit and then switched to another daughter/mother from another culture, it might have worked. Something just didn't jive. But all in all, it's a good book and I loved the illustrations.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Likes: The clever title and the flowy and very detailed illustrations especially in the Moms' clothing
Meh: In attempt to cover the diversity of all kids of Moms the text is confusing next to the illustrations. Who said what not?

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the idea, but I'm not sure that the book is very successful in the execution. In trying to include various cultures the reader can get confused about who is talking and the illustrations don't seem to match the text.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations, rhyming text, and realistic tension between cultures. I did find the changing perspective and voices confusing -- perhaps the text and illustrations could have been intertwined better to show the various children and mothers?

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookaday #8. Kids declare their mom is the best, even if she is from another country. The text rhymes, however some lines are awkward. Extra star for the bright illustrations that are as vibrant and diverse as the beautiful moms.

[Nicole S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whimiscal flirty twist made just right for parents and children. The book has a multicultural theme with emphasis on daughter and mom. Mom is a foreigner, but well-received by her American child. It served as a healing balm for a child reaching major milestone.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sweet book. I like the message and the illustrations.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think she meant well, but that only gets you so far.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story about the different backgrounds we all bring to the table. A great picture book to celebrate diversity!

[Cassaundra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not use this book for a story time, but might recommend it to a family/teacher who were interested in the subject matter.

[Diane Kress Hower · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of the story was great. However, the meter and rhyme made it awkward to read. It would be heard to read as a read aloud.

[Hannah]

Honestly it's very cute, but like, there is a difference between "mom" the noun and "Mom" the proper noun, and this one constantly misuses it.

[Jenny]

This book is a poetry and the quality of this book is perfect for all elementary student to read. It can teach the students the different types of culture, different holidays, and custom/etiquette. Students are lacking the knowledge of different culture and I feel like this could be a great starting book and teach them some parts of cultures. The illustration is perfect, the drawings are very realistic and is true to the culture. It also shows how happy the parents and child are. I was able relate to so many things from this book. For example, in my culture you have to take your shoes off when going inside a house but in America you don't have to. I remember I use to bring rice for lunch and everyone else would bring sandwiches and I was so embarrassed by that. It also tells us that the mom's culture is different but the things you do as a mother is universal. You give love to your child, feed them food, and buy them clothes. If you look at the book carefully the fonts and style of the writing is all different for each culture and it shows the diversity. It was really interesting to see the different kind of holidays that the book portrays, we were able to learn what culture celebrated what holiday. As an immigrant you have to learn a whole new custom and etiquette and sometimes it is hard to do because you are so use to your native custom/etiquette. The book doesnt just portray American culture, it also portrays the different culture. (For example, Korea, France). There really is no plot just the things you have to learn and the problems you can have as an immigrant.