Is your Mama a Llama?

May 12, 2025 By Maria

Mother’s Day was yesterday, so I figured it’s a good time to write about some of our favorite mother themed picture books. I never have high expectations for Mother’s Day. For me it is still more a day for my mom and grandmas (when they were around). The focus is still on my husband’s mother and my mother and my kid’s last living great grandmother. I am so grateful that they have been able to know three of their great grandmothers. I never met any of my great grandmothers, but I wish I did. I haven’t sat down to read mom themed books for Mother’s Day in a while, but here are a few of our favorites from over the years. 

A well known favorite is of course Are you my Mother? By P.D. Eastman. Does this old book even need an introduction? It was published in June of 1960 and is still widely read. My kids always love how the baby bird is asking so many wrong animals and things if they are his mother. The bird’s questions get sillier and more ridiculous as the story progresses. The relief between mother and baby bird is beautiful at the end of the story even if we know it’s coming every time we read this classic.

When he was little, I used to read my oldest son Is Your Mama a Llama? By Deborah Guarino all the time. It is a delightful rhyming book about a llama asking all his animal friends about their mothers. I used to read this book over and over to my oldest son when he was small. He loved Is Your Mama a Llama? I don’t know if it was the rhyming or the silliness, but he loved reading this book. He was also with me constantly at that time of his life. This book is so silly and sweet. I loved reading this it and quoting it to my son. Steven Kellogg’s illustrations were also nostalgic and fun for me. It’s a little different with your first child. You have more time and the ability to focus just on them, at least until they have siblings. Your attention gets stretched after that, but it’s not a bad thing either. 

On Mother’s Lap by Ann Herbert Scott and illustrated by Glo Coalson is a book about siblings learning to share time with their mother. Ha, does this book feel true! My younger son and daughter often fight over and occasionally share sitting on my lap. The bigger they get the more I get crushed. The little boy, Michael, in this book definitely makes me think of my son, especially when Michael has to bring a blanket and a toy and a puppy all to cuddle on mother’s lap. My son has carried around his blanket since he could walk. He also doesn’t always want to share me with his little sister. I used to be able to easily hold them both on my lap (actually, I even carried them together all the time when they were smaller). Now that they are getting so big it’s hard to even hold them both on my lap at once, at least without testing my endurance of being squished. 

A beautiful book about testing the boundaries of a parent’s unconditional love is Mama, Do You Love Me? By Barbara M. Joose and illustrated by Barabra Lavallee (we also love another book illustrated by Lavallee). I love this book! When my kids and I are upset or having disagreements, I often pull this off the shelf to read aloud. It is a sweet reminder that yes, your parents will always love you, even when they get mad and even when you’re naughty. I like how the little girl in the story attempts to push her mother further and further to see how far she can go and still have her mother’s love. It shows her confidence in their relationship and the comfort between them. 

The comfort between siblings and the confidence they have in their mother is easily demonstrated in Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. This book is beautifully illustrated by Patrick Benson and tells about three little owls longing for and waiting for their mother to return home. The mother owl is only present for a small section of the book. We always love little owlet Bill’s refrain: “I want my mummy!” said Bill. This book is fun to read out loud and do different voices for the three owl babies (that is if you have fun doing voices when reading aloud). It is also a good starting point to remind little ones that even if mom or dad aren’t with them all the time, they will always come back. 

This Mother’s Day I didn’t actually see my mom because she’s away on a trip. I had a nice visit with her earlier in the week and gave her her card and gift then. We saw my mother-in-law and her mother the day before, so this Mother’s Day was just my family and I having a slow and pleasant morning and afternoon. It was different, but really nice and my daughter and I even sat down to read one of the books from this list together. I am happy we had some read aloud time this Mother’s Day.