Published: 31st March 2020 
Publisher: Scribble
Illustrator: Anna Zobel
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
‘Elvi, which one is your mum?’
‘They’re both my mums.’
‘But which one’s your real mum?’
When Nicholas wants to know which of Elvi’s two mums is her real mum, she gives him lots of clues. Her real mum is a circus performer, and a pirate, and she even teaches spiders the art of web.
But Nicholas still can’t work it out! Luckily, Elvi knows just how to explain it to her friend.
This is a great story about what it means to be a “real mum” and how having two mums doesn’t make one more real than another. I enjoyed this story because it is playful and light-hearted even though it’s about a sensitive question.
Green’s approach to this was excellent because kids have questions, adults have questions, and whether or not they are right to ask those questions it’s going to happen. Having Elvi deal with Nick’s constant questioning about her “real mum” with humour and heart is a great way to point out to Nick and the reader that there is no such thing as only one “real mum”.
I liked how Zobel’s illustrations start to capture the more outlandish answers Elvi gives. It plays into the notion that Elvi’s mums are superheros in a way being able to do all these fantastical things with a great tongue in cheek that Elvi is completely messing with Nick. The use of blues against the brown and yellows in Zobel’s pictures highlight the fanciful answers and it’s a great way to show that both mums can do these things in Elvi’s imagination. I also liked how Zobel incorporates the more creative answers in and around whatever real life activing Nick and Elvi are currently doing whether it’s playing in the park or walking down the street.
Overall, it’s a nice gentle story that points out how impolite it is to even ask such a question, but the curiosity of kids covers this and Green shows a nice friendly and humorous response to Nick’s questions.
You can purchase Who’s Your Real Mum via the following
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