Mama - Tapa dura

And so, a little girl remembers . . . the night her mother told her she was sick and might not get well. How they sat on the bed in the summer night and waited for the moon to rise. The girl recalls the last fall day her mother could take her to the park and push her on the swings. Soon you'll be pumping all by yourself and you won't even need me. But the little girl couldn't imagine not needing her mother. Then, when Louise came to help her mother make dinner and they sang together, the daughter drew the moon. Louise came every day after that, and stayed later.

When her mother died, the little girl cried and cried and Louise just held and rocked her. And, when the daughter said that her mother wouldn't have left her if she loved her, it was Louise who helped her see how her mother was with her still. Then the full moon rose, and the little girl could feel herself beginning to believe it would be alright.

Watercolor paintings capture the bittersweet moments that a mother and her young daughter share as they deal with the inevitable in this poignant portrayal of death. Simply presented, this direct and touching narration conveys both hard truths and tender reassurances.