‘My Mommy Medicine’ is a Hug from Your Mama in a Picture Book

Written by Edwidge Danticat, Illustrated by Shannon Wright. When I initially put this book on BNP’s List of books to read in 2019, I wrote that the book’s cover made “me feel like I just received a hug from my mama, along with a hilarious text message filled with inappropriate emojis.” Having been in the Shannon fan club for a while from following her on Twitter I knew that–she’d done comics (Castor & Carina: Halley’s Cosmic Combo), book covers (Betty Before X), and tons of illustration work, including a Google Doogle. So when she announced that her first picture book would be released this year, I. WAS. HYPED. I was also glad to have the book as Black History Month was mostly hot dumpster fire this year, and I only had a chance to actually read my copy once March, Women’s History Month, had began. Wright is paired up with renowned author and Award-winning memoirist Edwidge Danticat (The Farming of Bones, Clare of The Sea Light, Mama’s Nightingale) for this children’s book “about the comfort and love a mama offers when her child isn’t feeling well.” A picture book with a brown skinned mother and daughter with thick, curly hair created by two Black women? Filled with words and art? I stated that this was all things bright and beautiful that I wanted to continue walking towards in 2019.

My Mommy Medicine is a darling new book for the kid lit crew detailing all the ways “Mommy Medicine can heal all the woes and make any day the best day!” It features a little girl who is u…