Celebrating Super Single Moms
A celebration of Super Single Moms - beautifully illustrated and a great starting point for discussions about family!
The importance of representing all types of families in mainstream television, films and books cannot be underestimated – all children are keen observers of other families in action and do enjoy seeing representations of their lives. Single parenting is a family reality not often represented in books. A friend of mine, a single parent, calls this book a godsend - it reminded me of a time when I was desperately searching for storybooks that dealt with adoption and the Jamie Lee Curtis book arrived via Amazon. Today there are of course numerous story books for helping children cope with separation and divorce but what about afterwards? Melbourne based author Bronwen Fallens, a single mum to a two-year-old daughter, discovered that there were few, if any, fun stories about single parent families. So she wrote her own – My Super Single Mum.
The gorgeous slightly cartoon-like style of the illustration adds to the action and has been created by the very talented Muntsa Vicente. I really like the style as each page seems to exude positivity and energy, whether it’s the mother changing a light bulb, baking cupcakes or dancing in the lounge room.
The story itself is written in a rhyming style that is sweet, gentle and is positive throughout. It tells of simple, everyday activities in the context of the mother and a daughter. 
I like that there is nothing judgmental in the story or anything that suggests ‘right or wrong’. It’s a lovely book to use as a starting point for a discussion about family.
The book aims to empower and celebrate single mums and to also normalise and value families of all variations. It is the first in a series of books titled ‘My Family’ in which different family types are explored. Other titles coming later this year include My Super Single Dad, Groovy Gran, My Brother Wheels and My Two Dads.
As a special mention about the changing nature of work - author Fallens and illustrator, Vicente are based in Melbourne and Barcelona respectively. Their book was created and delivered entirely online after ‘meeting’ through an online artistic community, Lost at E Minor, many years ago. They have collaborated on many projects together but have never actually met face to face. Is that not a wonderful nod to the changing nature of our world?
Vanessa Badroodien writes a weekly book review for Cape Town Kids. For more of her reviews, visit Sparkle & Spin Studio”.
Join the community