Mommy?

Title: Mommy?

Bibliographic information:

Author: Maurice Sendak, Arthur Yorinks

Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

Paper Engineer:  Matthew Reinhart

• Hardcover: 12 pages
• Publisher: Michael di Capua Books / Scholastic; 1st edition (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English

Reader's Annotation:

Will the child ever find his Mommy, or will he be lost forever in the house of monsters?

Interest Level: Ages 4-7

Lexile level: Not Applicable

Awards, if applicable:

Not Applicable

Plot summary: Where is Mommy?  When a small child wanders into a house full of monsters, all he wants to do is find his Mommy.  Along they way, he offers assistance to the monsters he comes across - giving a pacifier to the fanged vampire, and unwrapping the mummy.

Critical review: What is remarkable about this book is the mechanism of the paper engineering.  Most pop-up books feature relatively simple mechanisms - the impressive ones have mechanisms on top of mechanisms.  But this book actually relies upon the reader to notice the books motion -  eyes that open and close as  the page turns, and a pull out flap that allows the reader to pull the wrappings off the mummy.

Why include it?

Pop-up books add a very special dimension to story time.  They make the story come to life in a very physical way.  This striking picture book uses the motion of opening pages and shifting to move the characters and story along in a compelling way