One of my favourite picture books growing up was “Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman.

My
grandmother used to read it to me and it would have me crying every time. That being said, it
always ended happy, when the little bird found his mom!

The story is about a mother bird, who leaves her nest to get food, in anticipation that her egg
will soon hatch. While she is away, the baby bird hatches, and is surprised to not find his
mother. Unable to fly, he goes on a quest to locate her. He meets many animals along the way,
unfortunately none of whom are his mother. Upset and discouraged, he is eventually scooped
up by a power shovel and returned to his nest, were his mother finds him!

The pictures in the book are simple, yet captivating. The expressions on the animals faces, help
illustrate their thoughts and feelings. They depict movement and help extend the plot, by
guiding you along the little bird’s journey to find his mother. Different sounds such as the
‘SNORT’ are added for effect and help reinforce what is happening in that moment.

As I teach French immersion, I have not had the opportunity to use this book with my class but
am on the search for a French copy! If I were to use it, my intentions would be to have the
students examine the images and understand that emotions and feelings can be conveyed
through pictures. I would have a collection of images of the little bird, and ask my students how
they thought the little bird was feeling in that moment and why? For instance, if his reaction in
the ‘SNORT’ picture was shown to my students, they may say that he is scared and worried. A
picture of the little bird being reunited with his mother, may have the children say he is happy!
This may lead to an extension activity on emotions, wherein the children would be asked to
represent a specific emotion through a drawing.