My Mom Has X-ray Vision

diverse picture book (superheroes, superpowers, moms; older preschool/kinder ages 4 and up)
Large colorful pictures and an engaging, humorous plot make this a great choice for storytime if your kids will sit through it (I'm used to too many toddlers, so I am having trouble relating to preschool crowds these days). As a one-on-one readaloud you could read it to younger kids (3 years or so?)

4. I had mixed feelings about this book before and after reading it. The front cover illustration coordinates appropriately with the title, “My Mom Has X-Ray Vision.” For example, the plot of the story included a series of questions the son, Mathew, who wants to know why his mother’s “x-ray vision” can see everything he does. So, he decides to put his theory to the test. As a result, the front page includes Mathew’s mother with X rays from her eyes down to him. All the characters are portrayed with different skin tones, hair colors, and eye colors, which I loved about the book. The variety of cultures allows readers to recognize acceptance of mixed group, friendships. I feel as if the story being told through third person show more should have been arranged through first person to allow the younger audience to relate more. I did not like the writing fonts, especially the randomly bolded words in parts of the passages. The several fonts made the story look slightly unorganized and breaks in the flow of writing. I did like the book for the colorful, exotic illustrations that remained on topic of fantasy. show less

I liked this book. I liked the illustrations of Matthew’s mother and how it shows that she know what he s doing even when she isn’t looking at him. For instance, she told him to sit down it the tub. She knew he wasn’t sitting down because she was right below him while on the phone. I also liked the end pages of this book because it shows Matthew’s mom in the beginning as a mom doing normal mom things, but then it shows her at the end dressed as a superhero with superpowers. This shows what Matthew thinks of his mother. The big idea of this story is that children have creative minds and can sometimes believe that their parents are superheroes.

I really enjoyed this story I thought it was a very cute story. The author used illustrations that were very colorful and really enhanced the text. You could really see how anytime the boy was misbehaving the mom always knew without even looking. I also really enjoyed the use of repetition in the language repeating “she’s just an ordinary mom.” This helps the reader to better understand the story. The big message of this story is that children have the wildest imaginations and come up with the craziest things like their moms having X-ray vision.

Little Kid Reaction: They LOVED this book. LOVED LOVED LOVED it! I have three boys, so this really tapped in to their natural love for superheroes. They couldn't get enough of reading and re-reading this book. The pictures are energizing, filled with stars and circles and swoops that make it feel like the original Batman or Wonderwoman TV shows. The story is exciting to the kids because it's about superheroes. And it's all about Mom, so it's something that little kids tend to know a lot about.

Big Kid Reaction: "I LOVED this book for many reasons: 1) because my boys loved it. 2) Because it puts MOM in the category of where the boys are already finding their heroes. 3) Because the pictures are wonderful. 4) And because it portrays MOM as show more a SUPER HERO.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®. show less

Who hasn't said that their Mom has X-ray vision or eyes in the back of her head? A fun idea for a story. Not my favorite illustration style unfortunately. There were a couple of places that don't flow that well as a read aloud. After multiple reads I'm still not sure how to fill in and get over the issue.