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| Published: | June 12, 1960 (renewed 1988) |
| Author: | P. D. Eastman |
| Illustrator: | {{{illustrator}}} |
| Characters: | Baby Bird, Mother Bird, Kitten (Silent), Hen, Dog, Cow |
| Setting: | Car, Boat, Plane, Snort |
Are You My Mother? is a children's book by P. D. Eastman published by Random House Books for Young Readers on June 12, 1960 as part of its Beginner Books series. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.
The Shakespearean version of the book is called, "Art Thou Mother Mine?".
Plot Summary[]
"Are You My Mother?" is the story about a hatchling bird. His mother, thinking her egg will stay in her nest where she left it, leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food. The baby bird hatches. He does not understand where his mother is so he goes to look for her. But he didn't know what his mother looked like and he went right by her. In his search, he asks a kitten (though she was wordless), a hen, a dog, and a cow if they are his mother. But they all say they are not his mother. (The hen said, "No", the dog said, "I am not your mother. I am a dog", and the cow said, "How could I be your mother? I am a cow".)
Since the kitten, the hen, the dog, and the cow were not his mother, none of them are. (The narration of the page reads, "The kitten and the hen were not his mother. The dog and the cow were not his mother".) Then all the animals --since they were not his mother-- leave (including the kitten, the hen, the dog, and the cow). Then the narration asks the readers if he had a mother. (That is, as the narration of the next page reads, "Did he have a mother?".)
On the next page, the baby bird remembers he had a mother. (That is, as he says, "I DID have a mother! I know I DID! I am going to look for her! I will find her! I will! I will!".)
Then he sees a car, which cannot be his mother for sure. In desperation, the hatchling calls out to a boat and a plane. But at last, he is convinced he has found his mother. It turns out to be a big thing.
So he runs up to the big thing. And he climbs onto the teeth of a big thing (which is doing construction). (While it is unaware what the "big thing" is, it is like a construction bulldozer.) Then the big thing pauses its construction work. (The baby bird says to the big thing, "Mother! Mother! Here I am mother!".) And a loud snort belches from its exhaust stack. (The narration next reads, "But the big thing just said, 'SNORT!'".) That is, which prompts the bird to utter the immortal line. (He says, "You are not my mother! You are a snort!". And he shouts, "I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!".)
But the baby bird could not get away. The snort went up. It went way, way, up. And up, up, up went the baby bird. (The baby bird then knows he is in trouble. And he makes an accidental ride on the snort after calling it his mother.)
Then the snort goes somewhere. And the baby bird panics to have someone get him out of here. (That is, as he says, "WHAT IS THIS SNORT GOING TO DO TO ME?! GET ME OUT OF HERE!".)
Suddenly, the snort comes to a stop. (When it slams on the breaks and stops, this causes the baby bird to fly a little.) The baby bird does fly, but lands back on the teeth. Then the baby bird panics. (That is, as he says, "WHERE AM I!? I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT MY MOTHER!".)
But at this climactic moment, his fate is suddenly reversed. The snort put the baby bird right back in the nest. And the baby bird was home. (That is, as the narration reads, "Just then, something happened. The snort put the baby bird right back into the tree. The baby bird, he was home".) The bird "slides" off the bottom lid of the snort's shovel (easily) and lands back into the nest. And the baby bird, he escapes danger.
Just then, the mother bird came back to the nest. His mother brings back an earthworm. The two are united, much to their delight, and the baby bird tells his mother about the adventure he had looking for her. (That is, as the baby bird --who tells his mother about his adventure-- "I know who you are. You are not a kitten. You are not a hen. You are not a cow. You are not a car, a boat, a plane, nor a snort. You are a bird. And you are my mother".)
Other Media[]
On August 13, 1991, Are You My Mother? was part of the P.D. Eastman Beginner Book Video series, directed and produced by Ray Messecar. The cast included Ardys Flavelle, the late Merwin Goldsmith, Marion Hailey Moss, the late Ron Marshall, and Brendon Parry, who have character voices and the late Jim Thurman, who narrates the stories themselves.
Other stories in this video series include Go, Dog. Go! and The Best Nest.
Goofs, Errors, and Corrections[]
- The hen is a bird. But a different kind of bird. So the baby bird and his mother --although not clarifying the species of bird in this book-- are a wild type of bird (such as a robin, a wren, or a warbler). And while the reader may think the hen was the baby bird's mother, the hen (even though she is a bird) was not his mother.
- A hen is a female chicken. So the hen --in this book-- would be the mother of baby chicks (baby chickens). But she is not the mother of the baby bird. As a result, the hen was not his mother.
- While it remains unnoticed, the baby bird (and his mother) and the hen (as one of the animals --which he mistakes for his mother) are both living dinosaurs. Because robins (like the baby bird) and the hen are both modern birds. And modern birds are living dinosaurs.
- The hen/chicken (in this book) is the closest relative of the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- This is the first and beginning story of the P.D. Eastman Beginner Book Video series.
- The snort is a reference to what looks like one in "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel".