Mother's day is fast approaching, and there are so many special books that celebrate moms! This week, let's share a couple of selections perfect for moms to cuddle up and read with their little ones unless the reading time happens to land on Mother's day. Then Mom should throw the book into dad's lap and let him read to the sweet darlings while she gets a pedicure and a glass of chardonnay. Cheers to mothers!

Do you have a book from your childhood that makes you feel the warm fuzzies inside every time you read it? For me, that book is A Chair for My Mother. It is one of the first books I remember seeing on the t.v. show Reading Rainbow, and one of the first books I can remember my mother reading to me. It is the story of a girl who lives with her mother and grandmother. The girl's mom is a waitress at a diner, and she works very long hours. When she gets home at night, she is exhausted and has no comfortable chair in which to rest. After every shift at the diner, she brings home her tips, and the family puts them in a giant glass jar. When the jar is filled, they take the money to the furniture store to buy a big, comfy chair.

I like this book for nostalgic reasons, of course, but there are a lot of other good reasons to cherish this book, too. This book does not feature a typical, nuclear family - mom, grandmother, and child - bringing in a great diversity factor. Being exposed to families of all different sizes and shapes is always a good thing. The story also teaches us about the value of community. The reason this family has no comfortable furniture is because everything they owned was lost when their previous home caught on fire. What they bring to their new apartment was given to them by friends who rallied together to help them. I hope this book makes its way to a special place on your bookshelf!