The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Root, Phyllis

Big Momma Makes the World

48 pp. | Candlewick | January, 2003 | Trade ISBN 0-7636-1132-8 $$16.99

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Big Momma is large, round, and as unperturbed as the cloud on which she sits; as powerful as her quintessential mother love for "that little baby sitting on her hip"; as creative as her male counterpart. The superb illustrations surprise the eye with their joyous variety. Among the many creation retellings and variations, this one takes the cake for most lovable, and for most benign deity, too--without sacrificing an iota of authority or reverence.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2003