Mama's Wild Child/Papa's Wild Child

by Dianna Hutts Aston, Nora Hilb (Illustrator)

A human mama tucks her child into bed with stories of wild animal mamas, like a kangaroo that keeps her joey safe in her pouch. Flip the book over and a papa shares stories of wild papas that care for their young like a fish that carries his small fry in his mouth then spits them back into the nest.

Nora Hilb’s warmly hued illustrations capture the special relationships animal offspring share with their mamas and papas.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Dianna Hutts Aston was born in Houston, Texas, attended the University of Houston, and worked as a journalist for several years. LOONY LITTLE is her first picture book with Candlewick Press. She says, "It was one of the hottest summer days on record. My mind, of its own accord, kept wandering northward, to a wilderness of snow and ice, the Arctic. While listening to the news one evening, I heard Peter Jennings say, ‘The polar icecap is melting - or is it?’ In my mind, I heard, ‘The sky is falling!’ The whole concept for LOONY LITTLE literally fell from the sky and into my mind." Dianna Hutts Aston lives in central Texas with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two bedtime books in one. The Mama's Wild Child side shows various mothers in nature taking care of their children. The Papa's Wild Child side shows various fathers in nature taking care of their children.

I love that it uses Mama and Papa as the parent names.

I thought the Papa examples were semi-predictable, but that the idea is a good one.

[Carolyn Jeziorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this with kindergarten students who were studying animals. The kids loved the layout of the book. It’s a good mix of cute rhymes about the animals, with an additional factual sentence that explains more.

[Faith Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the story, Mama's Wild Child/Papa's Wild Child, both the mom and the dad get to tell their children about all the animals in the wild. This stroybook is very interesting because it is a flip-me-over book, so the reader can have perspectives from a mothers point of view and also a fathers. Throughout this book the readers get to learn all the different ways mama animals take care of their babies with the illustrations and with the facts that are provided on each of the pages. "If I were your whale mama and you were my calf, I would give you a piggyback ride, up, up, up, and we would blo-o-o-o-o-ow! Then we would splish-splash with flippers and flukes on the sunny side of the ocean." The facts about whale mama's is that "the mother humpback gently pushes her newborn calf to the surface for its first breath of air." When the reader flips the book over illustrations and facts about papa's are given. "If I were your sea-horse papa and you were my fry, I would hold fast to the brightest branch of coral while I carried you in my pouch, belly dancing beneath the watery sky until you were ready to swim free." The fact about papa sea horses I find very interesting, "A sea horse father can finish giving birth to up to 1,500 fry in the morning and become pregnant again by evening."
I think this book is a great read for kids because it is very educational in the aspect that they are learning about different animals that are in the wild and that mothers aren't the only ones that can give birth to their babies. The story also has a repetitive pattern so the children will know the next page will start with, "If I were your animal papa/mama and you were my baby." The author, Dianna Hutts Aston became inspired to write her own children's books because of the books she would read to her own children. The illustrator, Nora Hilb, does illustrations for many children's books and lives in Argentina.

[Leslie Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mama's Wild Child/Papa's Wild Child is a story about a mom and a dad talking with their child about animals in the wild. The book is a flip-me-over book and one side is from the mother's point of view while the other side is from the father's point of view. The mother and her child discuss baby animals and their mamas and how they are not very different from humans. The mother tells her child, "If I were your seal mama and you were my pup, I would breathe in the sweet smell of you..." and then under the picture of the animals the book shares an animal fact. "A harp seal mother recognizes her pup by its unique scent". The father and his child discuss how animal fathers take care of their young just like humans. "If I were your sea horse papa and you were my fry, I would hold fast to the brightest branch of coral while I carried you in my pouch, belly dancing beneath the watery sky until you were ready to swim free". Next to the picture is a fact about sea horses; "A sea horse father can finish giving birth to up to 1,500 fry in the morning and become pregnant again by evening".
The book is a great tool to use in the classroom. It's enriched with onomatopoeia to bring the story to life. "I would listen for your first peep-peep-peep". The story uses a repetitive pattern and begins every page with "If I was your (animal) mama/papa and you were my (baby animal)". It also teaches facts about animals and how they care for their young. "A crocodile mother will roll an egg gently back and forth over her tongue if it needs help hatching". The author, Dianna Hutts Aston, grew up in a divorced home and used books as a way to block out her fear. She wrote stories to show children that they don't have to escape from divorce but that it's not so scary to live with just a mother or just a father. The illustrator, Nora Hilb, is a native of Argentina and does not share the same background with Aston.

[Sara Bland · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a style of writing that is unique to other books--this is what you're looking for. This book starts out pretty unassuming. Each page talks about a different type of animal mother and how they comfort their babies, also accompanied by a little sentence mixed into the illustration that is factual information about that type of animal mother/baby relationship. Then there is a nice little page at the end that shows how the human mothers love their children. Then it gets interesting! There is a little note at the corner of the page to flip the book over. The other side of the book is the same style--just about daddies! This is a very sweet little book that I would recommend for young children or new readers.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a "flip-the-book" where one side is dedicated to Mamas and the other side is dedicated to Papas. Both sides of the book feature an animal parent caring for their child in a unique way. At the end of each side, the human parent tucks their child in bed. Illustrations are calm, great for bedtime.

Very cute book. I liked how Aston included an animal fact on each page. Nice way to get young ones interested in reading non-fiction.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ADORE this book! One half is a book moms can read to kids. Flip it over and the other half is for dads. It describes how if your child were certain animals how you would care for them. Its super sweet. I got it because our youngest is certainly a wild child... I dont usually add my kids book but i just had to with this one. :)

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This flip-the-book title talks about animal mothers with their babies on side one, and animal fathers with their babies on the other. Each page spread shows one animal pair along with a description of how that parent cares for the baby. You might be surprised by the number of animals where the father is the equal or primary caregiver!

[Molly Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a flip book. It goes through different settings, with the characters always being different. There are humans AND animals. This is a good introduction science lesson because it talks about all different kinds of animals.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about Moms and Dads, both
human and animal, and how they care for
their young.