Superhero Mom

by Timothy Knapman, Joe Berger (Illustrator)

Overview

All moms are amazing, and the mom in this story is no exception. She doesn't wear a cape or fly around, but she runs for the bus so fast it feels like flying; uses her superstrength to carry her daughter’s boots, coat, bag, and scooter; and can make bumps and bruises better with just a kiss. Maybe moms really do have superpowers!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536212150
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Pages:	26
Product dimensions:	6.95(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.79(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Timothy Knapman is the author of many picture books, including Superhero Dad, illustrated by Joe Berger; The Winter Fox, illustrated by Rebecca Harry; and Soon, illustrated by Patrick Benson. He writes both fiction and nonfiction, and his books have been translated into fifteen languages. In his spare time, he writes plays and musicals, because he believes that onstage, as between the covers of a book, the real and the fantastical can collide, and that is where all great storytelling comes from. Timothy Knapman lives in England.

Joe Berger, the illustrator of Superhero Dad and Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble, writes and illustrates books for children and adults. He is also a cartoonist who makes the occasional award-winning animated short film or title sequence. He lives in England with his wife, three daughters, two cats, and a small dog.

Editorial Reviews

03/11/2019

The child narrator in this spunky picture book acknowledges that many mothers are special, but she believes that her mom—who sports a high ponytail and rocks red Chuck Taylors—is a superhero. Berger’s high-energy digital graphics show the supermom in mid-motion, making pancakes, untangling hair, and tending to a hurt knee: “My supermom appears,/ with a bandage and a kiss,/ to chase away my tears.” Knapman’s sentiments about a mother’s many talents are well-meaning, but the story focuses on heteronormative examples and concludes with a platitude: “Every mom’s a superhero and so is every girl!” Also available: Superhero Dad. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Move over Superhero Dad—there's a new superhero in town. As in their previous collaboration (2016), Knapman and Berger spin a young girl's ordinary routine so that it seems her mother must be a superhero.
—Kirkus Reviews

The child narrator in this spunky picture book acknowledges that many mothers are special, but she believes that her mom—who sports a high ponytail and rocks red Chuck Taylors—is a superhero. Berger’s high-energy digital graphics show the supermom in mid-motion, making pancakes, untangling hair, and tending to a hurt knee.
—Publishers Weekly

The mother in Timothy Knapman’s high-energy paean for 2- to 5-year-olds, ‘Superhero Mom’ (Nosy Crow, 28 pages, $15.99), dazzles her young daughter with amazing competence, speed and ingenuity. Youthful and ponytailed, with a retro scarf around her neck, Superhero Mom in Joe Berger’s pictures throws off stars and rainbows like a human sparkler. ‘She does so many things at once,’ the narrator exults. ‘She zooms from here to there. Mending . . . mixing . . . making . . . taming tangles in my hair.’
—The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

08/23/2019

PreS-Gr 1-A little girl highlights all of the things that her superhero mother does for her everyday. She acknowledges that all women are unique, but she got lucky with her superhero mom. Superhero mom can mend a mixer, make pancakes, and tame tangled hair. She goes on to "fly" to the bus so she won't be late to school, makes up fun games and even wipes her tears when she gets hurt. When she can't find her favorite teddy bear, her mom looks everywhere. The close connection between girls and mothers is illustrated in the pictures and content. The boldly-colored cartoon illustrations are energetic and expressive. VERDICT The book's message makes a fun read-aloud at storytime and solid addition to Mother's Day-themed books.-Amy Lukich, Tinley Park Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2019-03-12
Move over Superhero Dad—there's a new superhero in town.

As in their previous collaboration (2016), Knapman and Berger spin a young girl's ordinary routine so that it seems her mother must be a superhero: whipping up breakfast (including "mending" the mixer with a screwdriver before using it), carrying a bunch of things (including her daughter!) and "flying" to the bus stop, making up fun games to play, kissing and bandaging injuries, and finding lost items. Knapman's rhyming text sometimes stumbles in its rhythm, and the rhyme scheme, usually abcb, falters as it approaches the book's conclusion. And unlike in the Dad title, in which the father turns the tables and says his son is the superhero for being "brave and kind and fun," the mother here simply states: "Every mom's a superhero / and so is every girl!" Rainbow-bright colors, dots, stripes, and stars fill the pages, befitting the superhero theme. Both mother and child are white with reddish hair, mom's in a perky ponytail. Other parents and children in the background are diverse; all female characters sport eyelashes. Eyes—just black dots in otherwise white eyes—can sometimes appear manic rather than enthusiastic.

Superhero Dad

would be the clear victor in a matchup against Superhero Mom, though neither can stand up to Superman. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews