Me & Mama

by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Mama's love is brighter than the sun, even on the rainiest of days. In the tradition of Someday, this celebration of a mother-daughter relationship is perfect for sharing with little ones!

On a rainy day when the house smells like cinnamon and Papa and Luca are still asleep, when the clouds are wearing shadows and the wind paints the window with beads of water, I want to be everywhere Mama is.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, African American, Fiction, Poetry

34 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2020

About the author

Cozbi A. Cabrera received a BFA from Parsons School of Design. She is the illustrator of several acclaimed children’s picture books and she also designs clothes and makes cloth dolls that have garnered the attention of collectors around the world and have been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is gentle charm and delight in this book narrated by a little girl enjoying and observing the ordinary details of spending the day with her mama. I love the sweet interplay of affection, orderliness, and spontaneity conveyed between the words and illustrations.

Each of Cozbi A. Cabrera's illustrations are stand-alone beauties, soaked with color and detail as well as abstraction. Some show the differences between the sizes and colors of their toothbrushes, drinking cups, rain boots, and breakfast bowls (as well as what's in them!). These motifs decorate the front and back inside covers of the book, much the way hairstyles and garden flora decorate My Hair is a Garden.

Before baby girl and mama enjoy their day outside in the rain "The perfect day for boots and puddles, says Mama," there is breakfast-eating, bathing, and getting dressed. The illustration of the little one wearing a shower cap while water cascades over her ("A shower is warm rain that gets you going.") keeps making me smile.

[Mid-Continent Public Library]

This is a beautifully illustrated Caldecott nominee about an ordinary day shared between a little girl and her mama. Although many of the activities shared between them are quite mundane, when told through the eyes of the daughter, you can see just how much she cherishes her time with her mother. - Reviewed by Stephanie at MCPL Reading Rocket

[Agnė · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 out of 5

Me & Mama is a quiet, gentle, and joyful picturebook that celebrates the bond between a young girl and her mama.

There’s not much of a story, just a bunch of childlike observations on an ordinary rainy day. Although quite poetic, the observations are a bit random at times. Also, the flow is kind of choppy.

For example, I don't think I got the meaning (the point?) of the third line in this part:

"A hole is where a branch was.
Nests are left behind in winter.
Some things don't let go. But for what?
The stores are boxes filled with people."

However, I did like some moments in Me & Mama, especially the one with the cups :)




Cozbi A. Cabrera's acrylic illustrations are not my personal favorites, especially when it comes to drawing tree branches, but, just like with the text, there were some nice moments:

[Shaye Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The day may seem completely normal — just an ordinary day with a young girl and her mother waking up together. Before the girl’s brother and father wake up, Mama and the young girl brush their teeth, shower, get dressed, eat some breakfast, fix their hair, and splash outside in the rain before meeting up with her little brother and Papa. This day may seem mundane, but there’s clearly beauty, bonding, and patience. The painted artwork is incredibly gorgeous!

I also listened to this interview of Cozbi A. Cabrera on Youtube and it shared a great deal about her artwork, illustrating experiences, and finally her beginning to write her own stories. I loved Cabrera’s sharing of how (and why) she submitted her first children’s stories. I highly recommend both the book and her video interview. Congratulations to Cozbi A. Cabrera for being awarded a 2021 Caldecott Honor!

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!!

[Maria Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

• 2021 Caldecott Honor Book •

Absolutely charming and beautiful! A joyful story about a little girl who loves being with her mom. Sometimes the writing was a bit choppy and the proportions of the figures were not balanced but this was a very cheerful story.

Materials used: acrylics

Typeface used: Fairfield

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl narrates this story about the rainy day she spends with her mother, opening in the early morning, when only the two of them are up. Enjoying tea together, brushing their teeth and hair together, and heading out into the wet world with Max, the family dog, they have a lovely walk. At bedtime, Mama tucks the girl in, and she slips off into dreams - dreams in which she is once again with Mama...

One of four Caldecott Honor Books chosen this year (2021) - the others are The Cat Man of Aleppo , Outside In and A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart - Cozbi A. Cabrera's Me & Mama is a book I have been looking forward to reading, given how much I enjoyed the author/artist's My Hair is a Garden . Although I did enjoy it, appreciating the loving mother-daughter bond being described, and the gorgeous acrylic artwork, somehow I wasn't quite as moved as I'd expected to be. There are odd jumps in the narrative - on one page, the girl and her mother are walking in the rain in the early morning, on the next (with no explanation) the girl is being tucked into bed at night - that threw me out of the story, and punctured the gentle, poetic atmosphere. This one has undeniably good qualities - lovely story, gorgeous artwork - but I think it needed an editor to step in and fix a few small problems. Despite that criticism, I can see why it was given a Caldecott Honor, as the visuals really are breathtaking. If half stars were available, I would give this a 3.5 rating. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for stories about mothers and daughters and/or featuring African-American families.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not have picked a better book for today, the first day of Black History Month, than this book, Me & Mama. I love this book. There's nothing big in the story. It's just a regular day. It's just a child spending time with her mom. There's nothing big in the story. But it's spectacular.

Beautiful illustrations. The voice sounds just like a child. It's playful and light and joyful, from the cover to the very last page.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are gorgeous! The representation is beautiful!! This is a quiet, lyrical book.
The story has a choppy, stream-of-consciousness feel that was a bit jarring to the rhythm at times, leaving me feeling the need to reread and see if I missed something, but I didn't - there were just some big jumps that seemed disconnected from the previous thought.

[Harlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love my mama!

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Caldecott Honor Book for 2021. The illustrations were very lovely, and would engage a young child. A very special book about a mother and one of her daughters.

[AStar Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read both of Cozbi Cabrera's picture books: My Hair is a Garden, which I loved, and now, Me & Mama. I'm getting a real feel for Cabrera's style. She doesn't follow a typical rhythm or flow; there is an undercurrent that's completely its own. And her illustrations carry so much emotion, whether framing a lone sippy cup or capturing moments of everyday joy. At first, it's a jarring combination because...picture books aren't usually put together this way. That's good! That's a relief. Especially in Me & Mama, with its hops and skips in narrative and imagery. You don't "see" everything; there are metaphors and repetitions and almost blank pages. But you DO wind up with a feeling of love. Love for the special people in one's life that make the routine of daily actions infinitely precious.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww.... I love the voice of the child. She narrates what she feels, what crosses her mind, even random bits like "stores are boxes filled with people." Art is wonderful. It even makes me smile to think of rainy days, which does not come naturally to me I promise.

If you liked the child's voice, read the classics by Ruth Krauss, A Hole is to Dig and its companions.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest... I just didn't really "get" this one.

The narrative had some abrupt jumps in that left me wondering if I skipped pages, or if my copy was missing pages or had pages out of order. The artwork is just not my style. And I have pretty wide ranging style. I honestly had to double check and confirm that it's a Caldecott Honor Book...

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork captures the essence of the story while the words, the observations of a daughter about the world around her and her mother and her home and the colors and the sights and the sounds blend together to create a lovely atmosphere like a poem would using all the senses.

Delightful on so many levels.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartwarming tale of quiet moments shared between a mother and daughter, and the time spent together on a rainy morning while the rest of the family members sleep in. It's moments like this that makes memories that last a lifetime of the special unconditional love

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, joyful picture book about a pre-school age girl and a day with her beloved Mama. I loved how the features of an ordinary day were made special by the loving relationship of the girl and her mother. Lovely illustrations. A book to savor.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite birthday gift this year was a copy of Me & Mama, from my own mama who - just like this story's sweet narrator - is the center of my universe. This one is a treasure.

[Marissa Marquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me and Mama by Cozbi A Cabrera tells a sweet simple story of a mother and daughter. The daughter narrates the rainy day and how she spends it with her mama. It begins in the morning when they are the only two awake and it follows their routine as they go about a normal day. It is quite a simple book with child-like narration but in my opinion that is what makes the book so great. As the story continues, we follow how the daughter and mama show their care and appreciation for each other and how together they explore the world around them. The story ends with the daughter falling asleep and dreaming about how she just spent another perfect day with her mama. Through the illustrations and daughter's narration, those reading are able to read and see the strength of the bond between a mother and a daughter as they spend their day together. The text is somewhat raw, unbalanced and has a poetic lyrical sense to it so it is understandable that many may not feel connected to it. However I think this adds to the book’s likeness, nonetheless you can certainly feel the daughter’s love for her mother as it is expressed in the way she consistently looks up to her throughout the story. Cabrera often uses imagery throughout the book, examples such as the house smelling like cinnamon or describing the dark clouds and when it begins to rain as “the clouds outside are wearing shadows. The wind is painting the outside window with beads of water.” By using this type of descriptive language, one could use this book to appeal to readers’ senses. Cabrera uses imagery related to sight, taste, sound, smell, and touch. I have a close relationship with my mom and despite that being the only one common tie I have with this book, I still felt moved to call my mom and tell her I love her and I am so grateful for everything she's done for me. With the turn of each page, came softly colored detailed illustrations. My favorite were the illustrations of the cups and bowls each of them use. Overall, Me and Mama is a straightforward simple loving story and I think would be a great bedtime book to read to those in the care of children.

[Sarah K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an honoree for the Coretta Scott King Award. It was a sweet story about a mother-daughter bond from the child’s point of view. It is an endearing story where the daughter describes the everyday things she does when spending time with her mother. Many of the events seem mundane or minor, but we see how cherished the time spent together is because of the child’s point of view.

The illustrations are abstract, yet realistic and relatable. While the topics of getting ready, eating breakfast, and doing hair are common to every child, there are specific nuances that are also culturally specific. It highlights how we are different, but also similar. This text would be a great mentor text for writing. During small moment personal narratives, reluctant writers can struggle to find an idea they feel is worth writing about. This story was written about an ordinary day, showing that you can truly write about anything.

[Genesee Rickel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description from the inside cover captures most of my thoughts:

"With lush artwork every bit as poetic as her words, Cozbi A. Cabrera introduces readers to a spirited daughter and the wonder of her world as a special day with her mother unfolds -- a world where differences are respected, nature is admired and, above all else, love is abundant. Beautifully so. Me & Mama is a gorgeous celebration of the bond between mother and daughter."

This book felt very present, it seemed like it found joy in the moment. My favorite page spread, from an illustration perspective, is the two-page spread of trees in the rain, with the main character, her mother, and their dog, standing under their umbrellas. The words say "We sing out loud to sky. Sky is taller, taller than the trees. Mama says a song is highs and lows." The illustrations look like acrylic paintings, but I'm not 100% sure. The art was hit and miss for me - loving some pages and feeling pretty meh about others.

[Leslie E. Exford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera is a beautifully written and illustrated celebration of the special bond between a mother and her daughter. The story captures the beauty of an ordinary morning shared between the two, filled with love, warmth, and simple joys. Cabrera’s poetic language and vivid illustrations bring to life the closeness of their relationship, showing how small moments, brushing hair, sharing breakfast, or walking in the rain, can become treasured memories.

This book is an excellent choice for read-alouds and classroom discussions about family, gratitude, and love. It encourages students to notice and appreciate the everyday moments that make relationships meaningful. Me & Mama also offers rich opportunities to explore descriptive language and visual storytelling. It is a tender and heartfelt story that resonates with readers of all ages, reminding us to slow down and cherish the people who make our days brighter.

[Jane Dotson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork in this book is absolutely beautiful. I could stare at the details on each page and wish I had some oil pastels to play around with. Books like this make me miss art class.

The story is sweet and simple.

Also really appreciated the black family and the depiction of the mom’s wild curls (my son pointed at the picture and said mommy. He knows. 😂)

[Grace Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an amazing mother-daughter relationship story. I am VERY close to my mom and just how she admires hers, I admire her. I wanted to do everything she was doing and be everywhere she was :)

[Risa Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I definitely want it for my future classroom. The author does a great job using lots of different vocabulary for younger reads, along with using illustrations that show characters that will look like many different students I will have in my class. Additionally, it promotes positive relationships between students and their parents!

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would get a five, but there are some random bits that don’t quite fit as nicely as they could. A good one though to read with my toddler daughter about a day this little girl spends with her mama.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cozy celebration of a close mother daughter relationship on a rainy day.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful!

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical, satisfying read-aloud, beautiful pictures. Ripe for inquiring minds and laps and snuggles. My students loved it.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super sweet book about the joys of a normal day of a mother and daughter.