Baby Librarian Marian and her mommy Margaret review the lovable board book Homemade Love by bell hooks, illustrated by Shane W. Evans.
Marian Reviews Homemade Love
This book is about all the nicknames a little girl’s mommy calls her, and how her parents love her. My mommy calls me lots of nicknames, but none as creative as in the book. In the book, the mommy calls her daughter “Girlpie,” and I especially liked the nickname “Daddy’s honey bun chocolate dew drop.” It sounds neat.
Mommy calls me Goose Girl and Silly Goose a lot. She used to call me Empress, but lately she’s stopped. I’m still an empress though. Sometimes we play a game where she calls me “her little tiny itty bitty tiny little baby girl” and she holds me like a little baby and rocks me and it’s a funny game because I’m such a big girl now! I’m going to be bigger than mommy any day now, I just know it.
Oh, I forgot. Mommy calls me her giantess as well. I take after Daddy.
My favorite page is when the little girl’s daddy flies her through the air above his head. I like this game too! Both Mommy and Daddy play it with me. Mommy pretends she’s going to throw me and it makes me giggle a lot.
I also like the page where she’s tucked under the covers with all her stuffed animals. I’m not allowed to go to bed with blankets or stuffed animals! It’s unfair. As soon as I can articulate the words, I’m going to demand that Mommy lets me sleep with at least Hippity, and maybe the baby doggie Gramma gave me too.
I definitely recommend this book. I’m glad to read about other children with parents who love them as much as mine love me.
Margaret reviews Homemade Love
When I saw this at the library, I was so excited! bell hooks! I love bell hooks. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, she’s a black, feminist writer. She has many books, but the two I’ve read are Teaching to Transgress and Feminism is for Everybody.
In Homemade Love, she writes a poem about the sweet nicknames a mom gives to her daughter, and how the daughter feels loved by her parents. It’s precious and lovely. I’d forgotten bell hooks writes poetry, but I actually have Appalachian Elegy sitting on my bookshelf! Time to pick it up.
I didn’t realize she wrote children’s books as well, and I see a few on her Goodreads’ list. I plan to read them all.
Has anyone read any of her other children’s books?
The illustrations by Shane W. Evans are the kind of cute that looks like a kid’s drawing, but also like a painting.
This would make a great addition to any board book collection.