Stella has two wonderful parents who tuck her in every night, pack her school lunch and bring her kisses when she hurts herself. Which is as it should be.What a conundrum little Stella faces when her class is having a Mother’s Day celebration and she doesn’t have a mother. What matters is that every child be loved and cared for, and that families are born from this.īritish illustrator Holly Clifton-Brown reflects the same theme in her appealing images, taking care to depict a variety of individuals - old and young, multi-racial and multi-ethnic, gay as well as straight - but doing so without fanfare. Schiffer has done families of all shapes and sizes a great service with this, her first children’s book, by showing that it doesn’t matter what form a family takes. “Just two,” she says.Īnd as Stella and her dads leave the school, Howie follows in their wake, puzzling over what he’ll do for Father’s Day. Abbott, the teacher, is “worn out” by the end of the day, but Stella assures her she won’t be bringing such a crowd of people for Father’s Day. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Stella’s Papa, who is willing to crawl around on the floor, is a hit with all the kids, and her Nonna befriends Jonathan’s grandmother, who came as his special guest since his mom is away from home on the day of the party (apparently as a member of the armed forces, if his hand-drawn invitation is any indication). So when others are crafting their handmade invitations for moms, hers takes on extra proportions: an accordion-like invitation for half-a-dozen people who make up Stella’s family.Īnd a good time is had by all at the Mother’s Day celebration. Stella isn’t sure that will work, but it seems the best option.
So why not invite them all, says her friend Jonathan.
Daddy and Papa read her stories, Stella tells him, and when she’s hurt, she gets lots of kisses - not just from Papa or Daddy, but also from Nonna or Aunt Gloria or Uncle Bruno or Cousin Lucy. “But who reads you bedtime stories like my mothers do for me,” asks Howie, who has two moms. If she has no mother, “who packs your lunch like my mom does for me?” asks Leon.
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