#38 of 1001 · September 7, 2020

Oh, dear. I’m in love with the electrifying strangeness of Liz Rosenberg and Stephen Gammell’s Monster Mama. The book is a bundle of contradictions: faintly sinister yet oddly comforting, shot through with garish horror yet tenderly affirming of otherness. Rosenberg affectionately introduces us to young Patrick Edward and his mother, a hulking, bestial figure whose bizarre appearance and frightening temperament relegate the two to a liminal existence: they dwell on the outskirts of the neighborhood, he mingling with the community while she hides in a cave at the back of the house. Ultimately, monstrousness is positioned as a unique and worthy trait that unites mother and son in a fiercely loving bond. Gammell’s characteristically disturbing illustrations, awash in streaks, drips, and splotches of psychedelic color, pulsate with an energy as visceral and playfully macabre as the title character. #stephengammell #monster #mama #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks