Mars Needs Moms!

This book is will resonate with children AND mothers everywhere. Children will discover what is so great about mothers, and mothers will smile knowingly. This is one of my very favorite children’s books ever!

I sent this book to my mother thinking she would enjoy sharing it with her grandkids. She left me a voice mail telling me how much SHE loved the illustrations and the story. She said it made a GREAT mothers day gift:). I have since sent it to 3 other moms.

Having been a fan of Berkeley Breathed's since high school and his BLOOM COUNTY days, I was excited to find this picture book about the relationship between a boy and his mom. As the mother of twin boys, I can understand being on the receiving end of feelings similar to Milo's. The story was funny and ultimately moved me to tears. And of course, Breathed's pictures are phenomenal, characterized by his unique style and attention to detail. When I read the book with my 11-year-old boys, both of whom love to draw and dream of being comic book artists, they were very impressed with the artwork and spent time on each page, searching all of the pictures to be sure they didn't miss any elements. With Mother's Day just around the corner, this is the perfect book for the mom in your life, especially if she has sons.

During storytime at Barnes & Noble this morning, the storyteller read this book in preparation for Mother's Day. Towards the end, I was actually tearing up and had to look away from the book lest I embarrass myself in front of the other mothers who were there. I loved this story, the storyline is creative starting with a boy who doesn't appreciate his mother at all through the progression of his fears that his mother was abducted, to the ultimate sacrifice his mother made for him in the end. It's a life lesson for this little boy, however young he is, and his heart grows tremendously by the end of the story to show his gratefulness towards his mother. The aliens learn a lesson in love as well at the end of the story. The illustrations in this book is fantastic, with great detail and a sense of realistic visual impact to the readers. The colors are very vibrant and use of muted colors as well as bright colors are perfectly controlled to give this story an artistic rendition and a sense that you can even be in it along side the characters. This is a very touching book and I recommend this to all mothers, young and old.

I loved, I mean L-O-V-E-D this book. So did my kids. I cried. They cried. We read it again and cried again. It is obvious that Breathed has stepped into parenthhood with his heart wide open. He has touched a nerve here that every parent can relate to -- unconditional love. BRAVO to Breathed. Will there be an an encore?? We hope so!

Breathed's art typically makes one, well, breathless. Here, with Mars Needs Moms, one becomes weightless with wonder at his drawing abilities. He's in as good of form as ever -- or better -- with this wonderful mix of humans and extra-extra terrestrials. While the art and story are literally out this world, the storyline is very earth-bound: families are so easily taken for granted, but nothing matters more in this or any other world. Breathed suggests it take a Martian's eye-view to keep us properly grounded. Nice to think about, but the real treat here is for the eyes. My son and I still periodically go back to Fudwapper and Wish for Wings that work; this surely is another opus for Breathed.