In Honor of Mother's Day: Favorite Fictional Moms

Who is your favorite mother from a book or movie?

This is the question I've been asking for the last couple weeks in preparation for this special blog post for Mother's Day. And I haven't gotten many answers. This goes to show that mothers really are under-represented in movies and literature, and often, when a mom does make her way into a story, she's evil or overbearing or crazy. I think that's sad, don't you?

So I asked our Facebook followers about their favorite fictional moms and I got a couple good responses. One follower brought up Mama Bear of the Berenstain Bears, citing that Mama Bear "always knows what to say and not only to her bear cubs but also to papa bear. None of the advice ever goes out of style."

A favorite of Natasha Payne-Brunson, one of our librarians here at RPL, is the mom from Love You Forever, a picture book by Robert Munsch celebrating the bond between a mother and son.  Natasha remembers reading the book as a child and that it impacted her even then. She recalls that "it shows the developing stages of the child and how his mother took care of him and at the end he took care of his mother. . . I came across it again a year ago and I will share it with my son."

To find other well-loved fictional moms, I looked to Twitter. A favorite there is Molly Weasley, matriarch of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter series. Ma Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie is a classic favorite. Another is Little Women's saccharin Marmee March. An unusual choice that popped up on Twitter is Jenny Fields, the nontraditional mother of T.S. Garp in John Irving's The World According to Garp. 

Jenny Fields may not be warm and fuzzy, but she does love and want the best for her son. Some mothers that came up in conversation were downright awful. It's no wonder, because literature is full of bad parents! There seem to be more bad mothers than good ones. My favorite bad mom, English major and nerd that I am, is Grendel's mother in Beowulf (who arguably could be considered an excellent mother). Joan Crawford of Mommie Dearest came up more than once during my discussions with people. Precious' selfish mother in Push is a great (bad) recent example. And in the V.C. Andrews classic Flowers in the Attic, Corrine Dollanganger locks her four children in an attic and forgets about them. There is some really scary stuff out there. 

All the more reason to celebrate good moms this weekend by reading a book or watching a movie featuring a strong motherly role model. Sarah Plain and Tall? One Hundred Years of Solitude? We'll even count The Simpsons if you'll take inspiration from Marge. While your choices for good fictional moms might be limited, they are out there if you look hard enough. 

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Didn't I feed you yesterday? and other thoughts on motherhood.

	Confessions of a scary mommy This collection of original essays takes an irreverent look at the underbelly of parenting - things most moms would never admit, but feel every day. Brutally honest and hysterically funny, Confessions will leave you feeling less alone in the sometimes overwhelming and exhausting world of motherhood.
	Bringing up bébé : one American mother discovers the wisdom of French parenting With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman-a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal-sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don't just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.
	The naked mom : motherhood revealed An honest exploration of the truths about motherhood discusses how to balance home, family, and career; caring for your body; and advice on handling the tough emotional challenges all modern mothers face.
	Good enough is the new perfect : finding happiness and success in modern motherhood Based on exclusive data, more than 100 in-depth interviews, and the latest research, "Good Enough Is the New Perfect" is a guide for moms to be happier and more satisfied in all areas of their lives, as mothers, wives, and professionals.
	Battle hymn of the tiger mother Traces the rewards and pitfalls of a Chinese mother's exercise in extreme parenting, describing the exacting standards applied to grades, music lessons, and avoidance of Western cultural practices.
	Didn't I feed you yesterday? : a mother's guide to sanity in stilettos Laura Bennett is not a soccer mom or a PTA mom or a helicopter mom-and she’s certainly not mother of the year. Another breed of mother entirely, Laura is surely more Auntie Mame than June Cleaver. As a busy mother of six, Laura is on an impossible mission: raising a brood of fast-moving, messy, wild sons in the jungles of Manhattan. So what other choice does she have than to sit back, grab a martini, and let the boys be, er, boys?
	When did I get like this? : the screamer, the worrier, the dinosaur-chicken-nugget buyer, & other mothers I swore I'd never be The author describes her quest to provide what is best for her children in the age of too many options, in a book divided into short chapters for busy mothers.
	The war on moms : on life in a family-unfriendly nation Turns the "mommy wars" debate on its head by arguing that a mother's real "enemy" is not other women, but a nationwide indifference to the cultural and economic realities facing parents and families in the United States today.
9780061710377	Something like beautiful : one single mother's story An award-winning journalist describes how her relationship with a prisoner rendered her a heartbroken single mother when he was denied parole and sentenced to deportation, after which she fell into depression and addiction before finding the strength to move on and pursue another love.
	Bad mother : a chronicle of maternal crimes, minor calamities, and occasional moments of grace In our mothers' day there were good mothers, neglectful mothers, and occasionally great mothers. Today we have only Bad Mothers. If you work, you're neglectful; if you stay home, you're smothering. If you discipline, you're buying them a spot on the shrink's couch; if you let them run wild, they will be into drugs by seventh grade. Is it any wonder so many women refer to themselves at one time or another as "a bad mother"?
	It sucked and then I cried : how I had a baby, a breakdown, and a much needed margarita From the creator of one of the most popular personal blogs on the web comes an irreverent and captivating parenting memoir covering the joys and indignities of pregnancy, childbirth, and all the unexpected emotions that come with having a baby.
	Naptime is the new happy hour : and other ways toddlers turn your life upside down Once the zigzagging hormones and endless, bleary-eyed exhaustion of the first year have worn off, you're left with the startling realization that your tiny, immobile bundle has become a rampaging toddler, complete with his or her very own, very forceful personality. With biting wit and boatloads of common sense, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor addresses all these concerns and more.
	Motherless mothers : how losing a mother shapes the parent you become Edelman investigates the effects of early mother loss--whether through death or abandonment--on how women raise their own children. Drawing upon her own personal experience as well as information gathered from a survey of more than 1,000 women, she identifies eight distinct parenting traits they all share.
	12 simple secrets real moms know : getting back to basics and raising happy kids Best-selling parenting guru Michele Borba, the mother of three, has surveyed 5,000 mothers for their experience and wisdom in raising happier, more confident kids by returning to a more natural, authentic kind of mothering. She shares 12 top secrets of successful moms culled from her research and shows how to apply them to your family.