Thank you to Laurel Snyder for this guest post for Mother’s Day!
It’s almost Mother’s Day, a holiday I never pay much attention to, despite having kids and a mom. Because really, how could breakfast-in-bed or a vase of flowers or a nice dinner out come anywhere close to thanking any decent mom for all she does? And at the same time, how can any of those gifts compare to the gift of having kids in your life in the first place? So no matter how I think about it, celebration of this day just feels… inconsequential, or inadequate, or something…
 
But despite that fact, right now I’m writing a book called Seven Stories Up, which is laregely about a mother-daughter relationship. And the book I just finished, Bigger than a Bread Box, is also a mother-daughter book.
 
So I’ve got mothers on my mind, and have been hunting for books with great mothers at their centers. Of course I thought immediately of The Little House Books, A Tree Grows in Brookyn, Little Women. The classics. The archetypeal moms. And I remember Ramona’s mom, naturally. And the mom from Gone Away Lake was nice.
 
But once I really started my mom hunt, I was struck by how many MORE classic books there are out there where the story revolves around a mother who isn’t there anymore. Or one who never was.
 
I can’t help wondering if this is because mothers are so important to us that the holes they leave behind are automatic drama. Are missing mothers the easiest way to create insta-intensity in a story? If that’s the case, is this just a trick? A cheap gimmickused over and over by some awesome writers?
 
Or maybe sometimes the missing mother untethers the story, allows us to believe that Eloise really is allowed to behave like that. Or that Dorothy would be left hanging around the house alone in tornado season. I mean, if these girls had moms around, do you think that shit would stand? Do you?
 
But also, I have this nagging sense in the back of my head that writing about mothers is hard to do well. The relationship we have with our moms is so complex. It really can’t be simplified or sweetened without making the fictional mother seem unreal, can it? Because mothers are NOT perfect. Our mothers make us crazy. They make us angry, but we need them so much, even when they’re awful. Getting at that knot of emotion is hard to do.
 
Then too, there’s the fear (n me, anyway) that by writing about any mother, I’m writing about my mother. This new book I have coming out, Bigger than a Breadbox, is about a justifiably angry kid, and a mom who isn’t being very thoughtful. I was petrified when my mother read it. I was scared to death she’d see herself in it and feel judged.
 
So here, in honor of Mother’s Day, in lieu of good books about mtoehrs, I offer up a list of motherless books I adore. Just off the top of my head, these are the books that sprang to mind when I tried to think of some titles. Because I can’t seem to come up with this many good mothers.
 

Dicey’s Song

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And the question I put to you is— what am I missing? Fill in the gaps with your own favorites. What are the really amazing literary moms of children’s literature?
 
I’m especially interested to know about current titles. What are the best examples you can think of in the books coming out right now? What does the contemporary mom look like in a children’s book? Who’s doing a terrific job of writing real mothers?
 
Not that I’m asking you to do my research for me or anything! I would never do that! No, I’ll just sit here and do all the work myself, while you go out and play. Yes, I’ll stay home and (sigh) work my fingers to the bone. No need to thank me. Just so long as you’re happy, honey. That’s the most important thing. That’s my job, to make sure you’re happy.
 
I mean, what else is a mother for?
Laurel Snyder is the author of books WITH moms as well as books without. Her most recent novel, Penny Dreadful, was an EB White Readaloud Honor Book, and her newest picture book, Nosh, Schlep, Schluff, is a tiny little board book for the youngest readers. You can find her online at Laurelsnyder.com, where she tends to ramble. Her next book is Bigger Than a Breadbox.