Who's Your Real Mum?

Nicholas has gone around to play at Elvi’s house, and keeps asking her which of her two mums is her “real” mum. When Elvi responds that both her mums are her real mum, Nicholas insists that the mum who had Elvi in her tummy can only be the real mum.

Rather than point to one of her mums, Elvi continues to describe both of them, with her descriptions becoming more and more fantastical: her real mum can pull a car with her diamond-reinforced teeth, is a gorilla whisperer, an undercover pirate and writes in a secret language only whales can read. Finally, Elvi says that her real mum is the one who hugs her when she’s upset, kisses her goodnight and tucks her into bed, and Nicholas finally realises that both Elvi’s mums are her real mum after all.

This warm, imaginative picture book has a clear message that, with same sex parents, both mums or dads are childrens’ “real” parents, and in fact parenting is about so much more than biology. Elvi’s delightful daydreams about her mothers’ magical abilities are full of fun and wonder, and Anna Zobel’s illustrations shows both mothers cartwheeling up mountains, flying with pelicans and crocheting hammocks for polar bears. There’s no way to tell who Elvi’s biological mum is – and why do we really need to know, anyway?