Phyllis Green

“A New Mother for Martha,” is a picture book written by, Phyllis Green about a first grader named, Martha who is struggling with the death of her mother. Martha had a dream that her mother was no longer dead and will be returning to live with her and her father. Martha becomes increasingly more distant and disrespectful of June who her father remarries to. When June reaches out to Martha she rejects her. For example, when June made cookies Martha refused to eat them and said that she only eats the cookies that her mother leaves for her in the guest room. The following days Martha thinks her dreams come true when cookies are waiting for her in the guest room along with other things such as a jacket that she thought was sewn by her deceased mother. Eventually Martha warms up to June and accepts her as her new mother after the guilt she felt from alienating her.
My first reaction to this book was positive because I valued the overall plot. However, when I started to read further in the book I realized that I would not want to use this book in my classroom. The illustrations did not represent the text very well, which does would not meet the needs for students who require visual aids to help them identify elements of a book. I also did not feel that the Martha’s feelings were being respected very well since her mother had passed away only two years prior to June marrying her father and moving in. I do understand that the father had the right to move on after a tragedy but his daughter was clearly facing emotional issues that should have been taken more seriouslyThere is also an unclear message when the cookies and jacket appear in the guest room because while an adult can make the assumptions that June had put them there, a child reading the nook may not be able to make that connection. This can lead to the child believing something that is unattainable.… (mer)