My Heart (Katrina McKelvey, illus Deb Hudson, EK Books)

My Heart by Katrina McKelvey is a picture book about a loving mother–child relationship. The mother character reflects on her feelings while pregnant, after birth and as she watches her child grow throughout the early years—learning to feed themself, share their toys and swim—until they first leave her side to attend school. The mother’s appreciation and gratitude for her child is echoed by an anthropomorphised, comic-like heart character on every double-page spread. Mirroring the mother’s reactions, the heart giggles, beams, gulps, melts and aches. Illustrator Deb Hudson animates the heart with changing facial expressions, gestures, emanata (which feature streams of small hearts directed towards the child to depict a loving emotion), and motion lines. Moods traverse the tender and sorrowful to the playful and humorous, the latter when mother and child dance together like rock stars. Hudson’s signature pretty, pink and sunny-coloured decorative floral borders reflect the warmth of the sentiments. My Heart is a sweet gift for a baby shower or Mother’s Day and will appeal to readers of Jane Godwin and Anna Walker, as well as Hello World by Lisa Shanahan and Leila Rudge.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Joy Lawn has worked for independent bookshops and blogs at Paperbark Words. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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