posted on 03 Mar 2025

A Card for My Mum by Bashahi Fraser and Maanvi Kapur

Here’s a puzzle for you: we send a lot fewer letters than we ever did because the growth in digital technology has taken a huge bite out of the market – but, as a nation we send more greetings cards per capita than any other nation. Some estimates put the number of cards sold and sent at around 800 million in the past year.

We clearly think that choosing a card and taking the effort to post it, says something important and special to our loved ones in ways we’re not able to do ourselves by way of an email or social media post. And, of course, the cards mark out important moments in the year – birthdays, religious and secular celebrations and, of course, Mother’s Day.

In A Card for My Mum by Bashahi Fraser, illustrated by Maanvi Kapur, a young girl goes to the shops on the eve of Mother’s Day to find just the right card for her mum. The shops are buzzing with people browsing for just the right gift and just the right card – and there seems to be plenty to choose from. 

Naturally enough, the girl really wants to find a card that captures just how she sees her mother – her gold bangles, necklace and earrings, her silk kameez, her flashing dark eyes and her love of dancing and bhangra music. But almost every card she picks up depict mothers who look nothing like the girl’s – everything is just wrong.

In the end there’s only one solution – the girl has to get creative and make her own card. And, when all is said and done, isn’t that the most personalised card of all? It’s the kind of card that shows you’ve genuinely given the whole day some real thought and effort.

So, at one level, this is a story about getting creative and finding your own unique voice but at another, equally important level, it’s a reminder that genuine diversity and representation still has some way to go. In an industry that is so important to people and the way they celebrate, greetings cards need to show all of our communities in their great variety. 

A few words too for the excellent full page and double-spread illustrations by Maanvi Kapur that wrap themselves around Fraser’s deceptively simple text. The drawings are bold and colourful and perfectly capture the little girl’s quest for the perfect card.

Available now from Lantana Publishing, you will be able to get a copy from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have a copy on the shelves.

 

Terry Potter

March 2025