Narrator Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper's yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. But Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful--and attempts a nail-biting escape.

Unlike the other birthmothers in her utopian community, fourteen-year-old Claire forms an attachment to her baby, feeling a great loss when he is taken to the Nurturing Center to be adopted by a family unit.

When Little Raccoon asks his mother when she loves him the most, she finally answers "always right now."

A small spoon, feeling rather envious of fork, knife, and chopsticks, gets a lot to think about when his mother reminds him of all the things he can do that they cannot.

A grumpy little kangaroo is having a bad day until his mother finds a way to make him smile.

Rhyming text describes what various animals do and what they love, as well as a baby who loves his bed and his mother.

A child describes the many wonderful things about his mom who can make anything grow, roar like a lion, and be as comfy as an armchair.

A little mouse wakes up one day and, when he cannot find his mother, goes in search of her.

A mother reassures her child about the wind, lightning, and thunder when a storm passes through.

Depicts a number of animal babies sleeping as a mother puts her own baby to bed.