In Our Mother’s House

 

In Our Mother’s House. Patricia Polacco. Illus. by Patricia Polacco. New York: Philomel Books, 2009. 46 pages. $17.99 (Hardcover). ISBN 978-0-399-25076-7. Grades 1-4.

Patricia Polacco enthusiastically welcomes readers in to a home full of love, happiness, creativity, and diversity in her book In Our Mother’s House. The front doors are opened by the eldest of three children, all of whom were adopted by Meema and Marmee. Although the children look different and came from different corners of the globe, they all experienced an exciting, love filled childhood. The narrator recalls family past times like sliding down banisters and making Halloween costumes; infamous neighborhood block parties, and family get togethers. Love and acceptance pours through her childhood memories and her life, but she recalls that there was some turbulence caused by a rotten neighbor. The presence of opposition in this story makes it especially realistic and important for today’s readers. Now that the narrator and her siblings are grown up they still carry on the tradition and love they learned as children, and they thank their mothers for raising them to be the individuals they are today. Polacco trumpets the love and normalcy that has become the modern family of today. She emphasizes and includes diversity but does not stray from the pessimism of reality. Readers will fall in love with this family and the positive story. Some will take offense to the promotion of single gendered family life, but it is a book needed in today’s society. Highly Recommended

My Thoughts…

I definitely think that is the best LGBTQ picture book I have ever read. This story paints a picture of a happy, loving, diverse but normal family that any child with a nontraditional family could enjoy. Love is everywhere in this story, as is acceptance and diversity. I love that Polacco developed each and every one of the family members so we could really relate and identify with them. They each had characteristics like the real people we want to see reflected in our literature. I love that the story went through holidays, sicknesses, and every day situations that any reader can relate to and shows how though the family structure is different that the love is still there. I think the love in this story may even be stronger than love represented in traditional families. I was also glad that Polacco didn’t pretend that everyone was okay with the situation because in the real world people are not accepting; and children with nontraditional families often meet disapproval and rudeness. I could go on and on about this book and how great the illustrations were, how every detail and facial expression added to the story and connection with the characters. I could talk about how awesome it was that the neighborhood was so diverse so that readers every where could see something new in the text. I loved the detail in the pictures and the text and could see this story shared with children everywhere for a long time. I do think it is too long for a read aloud in a structured setting, but I could definitely see this being read by two loving moms to their children at night.

Potential Reaction…

This book is intended for grades one through four; a group of children who are not necessarily in the dark about homosexuality, but not necessarily aware of different views, stances, and/or opinions. This is also an age where children listen to and adopt the ideas and statements of their parents because they are vulnerable. I think the way that this book introduces single gendered households without giving it a title will help students recognize a situation where something can exist outside of their world of experience; it can show another interpretation of homosexuality that they haven’t heard before. This story is one of love, happiness, family, togetherness, diversity, etc. I think readers will find the family so awesome and Marmee and Meema so fun that they will realize that sexual orientation is only a very tiny and almost insignificant part of the story. I think too that by addressing the rude neighbors Polacco can show children that the negative opinions they may have heard do actually hurt people and families. The strong support for Marmee and Meema from the other neighbors, however, should show that it is not a good opinion or the majority. I think the diversity in the neighborhood block party will also interest and surprise young readers. I think readers from different ethnicities will enjoy seeing color popping from the pages.

I think that readers who have single gendered parents will love this story because it focuses on family life, not distinguishing between the two parents of the same gender or about having to accept one parent’s new partner. This story emphasizes that love is the foundation of any family, and diversity and individuality makes that stronger. Rather than question their families’ normalcy as society will often make them do, this book validates and honors the nontraditional family and even makes it seem better than others. I think younger children will like seeing the progression/maturation of the family too, because it will give them hopes or ideas about their own families’ future. I like how the end is positive and shows that everyone’s life is rich and happy.

I do think some parents would dislike this book if they are against gay marriage or homophobic in general. I think they would mostly dislike this book because they are in it and pointed out as the closed minded enemy. They can get over it in my opinion, however, because this story focuses on a healthy, loving family. The pieces may not have come in a fisher price set when they were kids, but it is the reality now.

Reminds Me Of…

In Our Mother’s House was different from other LBGTQ picture books I have read. It focused more on the family itself as it was established, how it functioned and why, rather than accepting a loved one’s new partner. Love was stressed, however, as the bond between Marmee and Meema and sexual attraction was never mentioned; and love and the awesome home life and support system given to the children in this story was one of the important points about the family. Love was also emphasized as justification for the marriage of two male guinea pigs in Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, but it just said if two people love each other they should be together. It isn’t quite the same message, but it is good to see love addressed in each. Daddy, Poppa and Me is a board book intended for much younger readers, but it emphasizes the every day, normal activities that make the young child’s life just as normal as another child. The theme of a normal home life can be seen in a much more detailed, realistic, and practical way in In Our Mother’s House, but it is a concept that appears in other LBGTQ fiction. While this particular title focused on the family unit as a whole, there were distinctions drawn between Marmee and Meema. This reminded me of A Tale of Two Daddies, a story in which a little girl answers a friend’s question about what each of her father is good at or does for her. Because society has pretty clearly defined gender roles, the distinction of tasks and roles in single gendered relationships seems to be a common theme.