Mama, I’ll Give You the World by Roni Schotter and S. Saelig Gallagher.

Simply gorgeous, this picture book will tug at your heart and take you into a precious world.  After school, Luisa spends her time at her mother’s place of work, Walter’s World of Beauty.  There she watches her mother cutting, coloring and curling hair.  But her mother no longer dances now that her father is gone.  Luisa spends her time creating her own hair creations from colored paper and hatches a plan for her mother’s birthday that will give her mother the world.

The writing in this book is lovely, filled with great language that reveals the beauty of Luisa’s life.  The illustrations are equally evocative, capturing the warmth and liveliness of the beauty shop and the many characters that frequent it.  One of my favorite aspects of the book is that this is a single mother and child and their lives are not easy, but Luisa is more concerned with her mother than with her missing father.  They are a complete unit, not grasping for a father figure to fill a hole in their lives.  It is a lovely portrayal that single-parent children will recognize and relate to. 

This is a book about the love between parent and child.  It is perfect for curling up with your own children, but would be equally welcome in a Kindergarten or first grade class when talking about parents or families.