My Mother's Voice

My mother calls me from darkness to light. . . .
I wrap her words around me,
warm with good wishes for the day to come.

Joanne Ryder's heartwarming text and Peter Catalanotto's glowing art celebrate the tender, everyday moments shared between a mother and daughter. In every welcome and whisper, laugh and farewell, the ever-changing tones of a mother's voice express a gift a daughter can treasure — her mother's constant love.

Publishers Weekly

Ryder (My Father's Hands) pays tribute to unconditional maternal love with this book that exudes a fondness and warmth for a childhood relationship that transcends time. By portraying a girl's daily exchanges with her mother, the author communicates how powerful this love can be, even in its simplest form. Catalanotto's (Matthew A.B.C.) watercolors, bathed in a warm light, evoke a tenderness derived from closely observed intimate moments, and underscore the tale's timeless quality. In one scene, the girl fixes her hair in the morning light, her cat-an omnipresence (unmentioned in the text), much like the mother's love in this story-also grooms herself and the mother looks on with a smile. Ryder's eloquent language enhances such everyday scenes with a freshness that renders them special and new. ("Her voice is the sun lighting my day,/ ever changing with her feelings, yet ever the same.") Both author and artist chart moments of triumph and disappointment, and convey a respect between parent and child, sensing when they need to give each other room and when they need closeness and comfort. This is a book to treasure-for both mother and daughter. Ages 5-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Joanne Ryder has always loved pandas, starting with the very first small panda toy she had as a child. She has continued to be fascinatd by these rare and wonderful animals throughout her career as a writer. She is the award-winning author of numerous picture books, including A Pair of Polar Bears: Twin Cubs Find a Home at the San Diego Zoo; Little Panda: The World Welcomes Hua Mei at the San Diego Zoo; My Mother's Voice; My Father's Hands; Big Bear Ball; and Wild Birds. She lives in Pacific Grove, California, with her husband, Laurence Yep, who is also an author.