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| Me and my favorite non-fictional mom in 1984. |
The first person who came to mind was Caroline Ingalls. She was hard working, dedicated, and intelligent. But, she was also quite racist -- almost every book mentions how much "Ma hates Indians", which bugs me. Also, although she was fictionalized, she was a real woman, which perhaps disqualifies her.
So then I started thinking about other fictional moms - and realized that the list of great moms in fiction is surprisingly small! Here's a random survey of the mom situation in kids' books I love.
- Bertha Shirley died young, leaving poor Anne an orphan. But, Anne herself grew up to be a pretty great mom, so I guess she's a contender for best fictional mom.
- Marmee was rather one dimensional, probably the least interesting character in the March family.
- Lily Potter was killed, leaving Harry to the tender mercies of the Dursleys.
- On the other hand, Sally Jackson did a good job of raising her demi-god son Percy by herself.
- Katniss Everdeen's mom was basically unreliable.
- Emily of New Moon was an orphan.
- Kate "Puck" Connolly was another orphan.
- The Pevensey's mother was essentially a non-character. I seem to remember that when Susan gave up on Narnia she went to America with the parents, but other than that do they come into the books?
- Constance Hopkins's mother was dead - but she had a lovely stepmother.
- Ellen Creighton, the matriarch of the Creighton clan in Across Five Aprils was definitely a great mom. She kept going in the face of unimaginable tragedy, and took care of her children fiercely.
- But on the other hand, Jess Aaron's mom was awful.
- Mrs. Murry was distracted, but basically a good mom I think. At least, she churned out a whole brood of brilliant children - but maybe Meg and Charles Wallace and the twins owe that more to genetics than her mothering?
Happy Mother's Day! Who's your favorite fictional mother?
