people and places

We bought this in Alaska for our 18mo. old son and it's one of his favorite books as well as one of mine. The book introduces unusual animals and clothing (parkas, muk luks, puffins, musk ox, etc) as it tells a story of a little girl asking her mother if she'll still be loved if she were to do mischevious behaviors or turn into an animal. The book reassures the child that she will always be loved even if the behavior makes the mother angry, sad, or scared. A beautifully illustrated reassuring story.

Love is the only thing that really matters! There's no mistaking the powerful allure of unconditional love in this young children's book, which has just been republished in a 10th anniversary commemorative edition.

Mama, Do You Love Me? depicts an Inuit mother who loves her daughter, no matter what. Throughout the story the daughter repeatedly asks, "Mama, do you love me?" She comes up with many intriguing and playful reasons why the mother might be persuaded to withhold love. For example, what if the daughter broke the ptarmigan eggs? What if she put lemmings in her mother's mukluks? The mother does not hide or lie about her feelings. Sometimes she says she would be surprised, or angry, or scared, but these variable emotions do not change her love for her daughter. Her daughter is her Dear One, always and forever.

This story is best suited for a young child, but it may also be interesting to anyone who's very keen on Alaska or Inuit life.

This book received a score of 7.50 on a scale of (1) low to 10 (high) from The Spiritual Reviewer.

I was a little put off by the idea that this is a "great book for mothers and daughters". Just because the child in the story is a girl does not mean that this book is not for boys too. My three year old son loves this book and so do I!