My Heart

By Katrina McKelvey & Deb Hudson

Reviewed by Margarite Igras

Katrina McKelvey is a former primary school teacher and President of the CBCA Newcastle. Deb Hudson says her illustrations are inspired by the joy and wonder-filled dreamy moments of the everyday. Together they have created a beautiful book about the love and bond between a mother and her child, written from the mother’s perspective. Katrina’s first picture book Dandelions, explores the love and bond between a father and his daughter, while Up to Something explores a father-son relationship.

A mother experiences many emotions as she watches her baby son move through the milestones of  growing up, taking first steps, learning to swim, ride a bike, and his first day at school.  There is a vocabulary of feelings that come from the heart as the mother watches and interacts with her child. When I found out you were coming …my heart glowed. When you started to wobble and walk on your own…my heart leaped. When you fell from your bike and scratched your knee… my heart ached.

The text is simple and repetitive – on the left side page, the sentence begins with When and creates a scenario. On the right-side page, there is an animated heart and word, reflecting the emotion the mother feels in the scenario. The illustrations are gentle, bright, and colourful and fill each page with details of some of the milestones experienced between mother and child.

An ideal gift for mothers to be, new mothers or for a special reading time for mother and her 3–6-year-old child.

EK Books 2024