It happens to all of us – at some point, we become old enough to start doing things by ourselves. But that transition from young child to older child can be rough, especially on moms.
In “Trust Me, Mom!” we meet Ollie. Today he is going to cross the street all by himself and go to the store. His mother has prepared him in every way she can think of. She even put on glasses and a fake nose to teach him about avoiding strangers. She warned him of every eventuality. And, she reminds him to only buy cheese. She relents when he asks if he can buy candy, but tells him not to get Fireball Fizzers, because they’ll blow his head off.
With all this good advice ringing in his ears, Ollie heads off on his very important mission.
He feels pretty confident, but as soon as he rounds the corner, he comes face-to-face with a bug-eyed monster. His mom hadn’t prepared him for monsters.
Then comes my favorite line in the book. Ollie growls back at the monster, who turns and runs. “The bug-eyed monster hadn’t been warned about boys.”
Ollie continues on his way, meeting and conquering a scary ghost and a witch on a bicycle. It was quite an exciting journey. When he arrives at the store, he remembers to buy the cheese, and he picks out his candy. Almost at the last minute, he asks the clerk to throw in two Fireball Fizzers as well. And it’s a very good thing he does, because he uses them to vanquish the aliens who try to capture him on the way home.
Yes, it’s true – Ollie can take care of himself.
This funny story is full of cute and inventive illustrations that will charm children and parents alike.
(This book was published in 2005 by Bloomsbury and was illustrated by Ross Collins.)
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