Big Momma Makes the World

I have waited far too long to write about this great book written by Phyllis Root, called Big Momma Makes the World.

A bit of the retelling of the christian creation story, Big Momma makes the world in 7 days with a baby on her hip. She gets right to it, telling earth, sun and moon just what to do. She is an imposing deity: by simply speaking, she gets whatever she wants. She makes whales and birds and mangos, grass and trees and "folks", gets lonely, and takes her world's inhabitants to task telling them to "straighten up down there!". Whatever she does, she knows that it's "good. That's real good."

There is so much that pleases me about this simple story: the parallels to what we learned from christianity; the recognition that mamas really do make worlds - in real life and real people; the cadences and manner of speech, like her generic southern dialect, make it a really fun out-loud read; the appeal of absolute authority over your creation, in fantasy; the subtle charm of the reward for speaking your mind; AND my 3 yo loves it.

My young'n can't get enough of big momma. But then again, who am I to say no?