Baby Apocalypse and Other Fine Books for Mother's Day

This past weekend, I packed up the baby and headed down to MoCCAfest, a mini-con that fills the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City with loads of indie comics and books. While strolling the aisles, my son alternated high-pitched screams with giggling. Could it be that's why I was drawn to the baby books from Idiots' Books?

Though the books are small in size, they screamed loudly to me, demanding my attention. Babies Ruin Everything was what drew me in. I flipped open the book to a page featuring a scrawled illustration of a little girl feeding peanut butter to a crying, peeing baby. The book is told from this older sister's perspective, in sophisticated language that cracks me up.

My cymbals scare the baby, and so I cannot play them. He could be allergic to peanut butter, so it is banished from the house.

He is a lightweight, this baby. A simpleton. A fraud.

My daughter seems nothing but thrilled to have a baby brother, but this book amuses me with a look into a dark, twisted alternate universe of sibling jealousy and rivalry (until they realize the power of teaming up against mom and dad, that is). I bought it for my husband for our anniversary, but it occurs to me that it would make a fine mother's day gift for any GeekMom with a wicked sense of humor about her children.

For new GeekMoms, there's The Baby is Disappointing. It chronicles all the things that baby cannot do.

The baby is tremendously conceited, demanding our attention always. "Look at me," it seems to say, "I am so important."

At least it cannot talk. At least we do not have to hear it brag.

The baby is careless, betraying an indifference to matters of propriety. Why, baby, why can't you try a bit harder? This hard-won world was meant for those of us who strive.

Each page is illustrated with a photograph of a doll combined with line drawings of the baby's surroundings. The book is even smaller, even more precious than Babies Ruin Everything, like a tiny work of art in your hand.

Lastly, for the expectant mother, there's Baby Apocalypse. The same baby from The Baby is Disappointing returns, and brings with it an ominous pack of babies. They creep up the street. The peek out of the bushes and into your windows. They take over your neighborhood, and they're terrifying. The narrator is the last unafflicted one in the neighborhood, until a single girl named Mona moves in. They build themselves a bunker where the babies can't get in, but unfortunately, they can't get out.

One idle afternoon, Mona returns from the bathroom looking stricken.

I'm so sorry, she says, her face a knot of horror. I don't know how it happened, but they've found a way inside.

This is followed, of course, by the image of a positive pregnancy test. They admit they've been bested by a stronger force. You can't keep out the babies.

Idiots' Books are written by Matthew Swanson and illustrated by Robbi Behr, both of whom are clearly loving parents to three children. I can't stop reading and laughing with these little books. If your GeekMom appreciates the likes of David Sedaris and John Hodgman, these books are for her.

MoCCAfest is an annual event put on by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Though it has ended, you can pick up Idiots' Books at their online bookstore. Though I bought the first book, mention of GeekMom got me review copies of the other two.