"Know that for every exuberant 'I love you' from a three-year-old, you're bound to get a, as they say, developmentally appropriate 'I hate you' from a thirteen-year-old. The trick is to embrace the one and let go of the other. . . . Laughter helps." --Cartoonist Barbara Smaller, introduction to the Book of MomsPerfect for Mother's Day, 100 sarcastically pitch-perfect cartoons culled from The New Yorker archives to celebrate Mom's unique motherly mom-ness.
Since 1925, The New Yorker has cultivated the creme de la creme of cartooning elite, a vanguard of sketching artists with astute wit and clever perceptions of life and living. Inside this special collection, such New Yorker cartooning greats as Charles Barsotti, Robert Mankoff, and Barbara Smaller offer up 100 black-and-white single-panel cartoons in tribute to a diverse array of moms, ranging from football and CEO moms to tattooed and jack-in-the-box moms.
A witty introduction by New Yorker cartoonist Barbara Smaller opens this homage by calling attention to a few of her favorite cartoons within the collection, including:
- Roz Chast's "Bad Mom cards, where Lucy, Gloria, and others are guilty, guilty, guilty of such crimes as not making Play-Doh from scratch or serving orange soda."
- Sam Gross's cartoon depicting a "primordial ooze rising out of a test tube . . . inquiring hopefully of the scientist, 'Are you my mommy?'"
