What Moms Can't Do

There are lots of things that regular people can do, but moms can't.

Moms can't wait to wake kids up in the morning.

When they watch movies, they need protection from the scary parts, and they can't sit very long without someone on their lap.

Moms also can't let go of a hug without a kiss. Or two. Or nine.

No wonder they need someone to look after them, I mean, after all, they're just moms!

Are there really things that moms can't do? Apparently, actually, quite a few. At least as far as dinosaur moms are concerned. Then again, human kids and moms might find some interspecies similarities in this playful picture book authored and illustrated by the same team that brought us--what else?--What Dads Can't Do (which writer Douglas Wood called "a much easier book to write than Moms"). The list of maternal "failings"--energetically demonstrated by a cute mom-and-son team of Dinosauria suburbis--covers an entire day, from wake-up to tuck-in: Moms are limited in their breakfast choices (they can't have "Yummos with purple marshmallows... Only coffee, or tea, or yogurt, or bran flakes. Yuck."), moms can't push grocery carts fast enough, and "Moms don't know how to keep salamanders in their shirts." To top it off, "Sometimes moms can't hear themselves think (whatever that means)."

But there's one thing that moms can do "better than almost anyone... and that's love you." Sweetly drawn and written, What Moms Can't Do should make for fun snuggled-up reading, because, of course, moms "feel much better with someone on their lap." (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes