Most of the books we review here are for children, but this was a book I discovered recently that I wanted to highlight because it’s funny and charming and lovely and basically spoke to my soul: Mama Needs a Minute by Nicole Sloan. The target market is two to four year olds, but I haven’t actually read it to/with Tilly yet and to be completely honest I don’t think she or any other toddler would appreciate it as much as the parents would.
The title says it all, really. It’s a cute board book with rhyming text about how much this mother loves her child but how sometimes, she just needs a minute: ‘Just a quiet moment or two is all I ask from you. It doesn’t mean I love you less. Sometimes it just means Mama needs to get dressed.’
I think this book falls under the category of parental love books, though it’s more amusing and less sentimental than those books tend to be. It uses examples of everyday life and activities with toddlers, like story time and playing make believe and cooking and gazing at clouds, and it really is a sweet celebration of the simple joys of hanging out with small children. But what I love about this is its honesty. Mama loves you, and loves spending time with you and engaging in all these toddler things with you and watching you grow and learn. But sometimes, she just needs a minute.
This book would be an excellent present to any caregiver to a toddler. I know ‘Toddler showers’ aren’t really a thing the way baby showers are, but if you have a two-year-old birthday party to attend, this could be a cute little something to give to the parents (after all, the kid reaching its second birthday is kind of their milestone and achievement too. It’s not easy keeping these little suckers alive and happy.)