Always your stepmom

Being a new stepmom has its awkward moments, but it's also a deeply rewarding experience. A woman begins a new relationship and works to establish a bond with her partner's young child. Although the child's primary parent is introduced in a crayon drawing early on and appears throughout, the focus is on the stepmother and child's developing relationship. The primary parent's presence is more noticeable once the stepmother and little one become a team and the new family blends together. Realistic illustrations anchor the story's milestones, starting and ending with the child's fifth and sixth birthday parties. Smaller images, formatted like photos in a scrapbook, capture day-to-day life, from campouts to making paper airplanes. In contrast, the crayon art accompanying the rhymed text and gracing the endpapers is probably too sophisticated to be made by a 5- or 6-year-old, but it does add a playful sense of the child's interpretation of events. Everything leads up to an "I'll love you forever" moment and an acknowledgment of how having the child in her life has changed the stepmother. The stepmother presents white, while the child and the primary parent present Black. A heartfelt reminder that patience and openness are crucial when families welcome new members. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.