Possibly the best kid book, ever

‘Wibbily wobbily, wibbily wobbily’ went the baby. Like Mrs. Large, I’ve got wobbily bits, though not enough squishing out of my tankini (extra long torso) to try a fish and grated carrots diet. No, somehow we are going to lose weight on the homemade oreos and bruschetta pizza diet. I have faith.

Mrs. Large is a model mother. In A Piece of Cake, she doesn’t beat her kids for talking about her wobbily bits, and when Laura suggests that maybe elephants are supposed to be large, she listens. And when the kids and Mr. Large sneak downstairs in dead of night to eat the cake that’s come in the mail and been hidden in the cupboard, “in case company comes,” she calmly snatches the last piece instead of raising holy heck.

But the sublime humanity of Jill Murphy’s Large family really shines in Five Minutes’ Peace, with a Mrs. Large desperate for a measly five minutes’ alone time. Obviously I relate. Mrs. Large finds the kids wrecking the kitchen, so she makes herself a tray and heads for the bath. The kids invade, as kids will do, and Mrs. Large allows their intrusion as long as sanity allows (this is about 20 minutes in my world; not sure the exact limit in hers). Then she heads back to the kitchen.

The best part is that she is desperate for alone time, and it is not even 10 o’clock IN THE MORNING.

Here is a book I would be happy to read, to my kids or in my alone time — over and over and over again.