Anna Casamento-Arrigo’s A Child’s Love is a heartwarming story that pays tribute to the loving relationship between a mother and her daughter.
This circle-of-life tale begins with a mother caring for her infant. The poetic storyline unfolds into a role reversal of caregiving from one generation to the next.
As the decades pass, the reader sees the child nurtured gracefully into adulthood and eventually become a parent herself. As time takes its toll, the now-grown daughter and grandchild become caretakers for the aging mother. From lullabies and games of peek-a-boo to walkers, wheelchairs, and visits to the hospital, the love and care the mother once showed to her daughter is now reflected in the daughter’s equal concern and consideration. With the granddaughter, Casamento-Arrigo introduces a third generation to show the continuation of this cycle of kin.
Alex Martinez’ endearing illustrations help define the genuine love and affection between these family members, and the changing needs within each generation as time passes.
Demonstrated again and again in tender detail, with the large and small footprints in the sand as mother and daughter walk hand-in-hand along the shoreline, in the daughter’s last backward glance at her loving home while heading into the wider world with all her belongings, and with the daughter’s recollection of her mom keeping the scary monsters at bay in the closet. The images are solid, genuine, and artfully crafted.
The narrative is composed of simple rhyming lines, each reflective of the preceding illustration’s activity, and should particularly appeal to younger readers.
While intended as a children’s book, A Child’s Love is a beautiful story to be shared by parents, grandparents, and children of all ages. The lasting sentiment is clearly one of love and compassion for those we care about within the familiar bonds between generations.
