Are You My Mother?

A baby bird hatches while his mother is away and sets off on foot — he cannot yet fly — to find her, asking a kitten, a hen, a dog, a cow, a boat, a plane, and finally a steam shovel named Snort the very same question. The repeated refrain 'Are you my mother?' is perfectly designed for beginning readers: predictable enough to build confidence, varied enough to keep turning pages. Eastman's illustrations are simple and clear, the resolution is joyful, and the whole thing wraps up in exactly the time a young child's attention allows. In continuous print since 1960, it is a staple of early-reader programmes for good reason. The plot is thin by design and the illustrations date from another era, but for a two-to-six-year-old meeting books for the first time, this remains one of the warmest and most reliable entries anywhere in the genre.