‘Mars Needs Mom!’ and so does Milo

Is your Mom always on your case about something?

She makes you get up for school. She makes you eat breakfast, even the stuff you don’t like much. You have to get cleaned up, brush your teeth and comb your hair because she’s always yelling. Then she makes you to work hard in school, and when you get home in the afternoon, she’s after you to do your chores.

Mothers.

Man.

Who needs ’em, right?

When Milo’s mom makes him angry, he probably wishes he could send her to another planet. In the new book “Mars Needs Moms!” by Berkeley Breathed, that just might be the dumbest idea on Earth.

Milo doesn’t see one special thing about mothers. They’re just summer-stealing garden goblins. They’re trash-tyrants and odor ogres, and they have no sense of humor when it comes to sister-tinting. When Milo misbehaved and was sent to his room, he slept so soundly that he never heard the rockets arriving outside of town.

Inside the rockets were Martian raiders with a great big net. They were sent to capture the greatest treasure of all, the one thing that Mars didn’t have, the one thing that Mars needed most of all. The Martians needed to bring back Moms!

Any Mom would do, of course. Martians weren’t picky, but some Moms were a little hard to catch. This called for a different plan of action. So when Milo saw three colorful Martians carrying his Mom past his bedroom door, he flew into action.

He followed the Martians, climbed on to their spaceship as it zoomed above Earth, and he quietly hid until the ship landed. And when he crawled out of the spaceship hatch, what he saw amazed him.

No wonder Mars needed Moms! There was nobody to get Martians up for school or make them sandwiches or drive them to play-dates or kiss boo-boos.

But as much as Martians needed Milo’s mom, Milo needed her more. And when Milo went to the rescue of his mother but needed rescuing himself, he learned just how special Moms really are.

I’m sure you’re going to find “Mars Needs Moms!” in the children’s section of your local bookstore or library. I’m positive that it’s going to be popular, but not just for the kids. “Mars Needs Moms!” is as much a book for grown-ups as it is for the grown-ups’ children.

Anyone who’s ever had a Mom will love the story in this book, and while kids will be drawn to the richly colored illustrations, adults will be starry-eyed at the emotion in them. Fans of author-illustrator Berkeley Breathed know how much attention he pays to the backgrounds in his drawings, and they know how he sneaks funny little details into his cartoons. This book won’t disappoint.

You’re going to be tempted to buy this book for your 4- to 8-year-old, but since Mother’s Day is coming up, you might want to get a copy for your Mom, too.

“Mars Needs Moms!” is a book that will send her over the moon.

Terri Schlichenmeyer, aka The Bookworm, has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 12,000 books.