Mother's Day began here in our country. Then the idea spread around the world. Now this holiday is celebrated in countries large and small.

Anna Jarvis of West Virginia thought there ought to be a special day in honor of mothers. She gave up her job to spend all her time speaking and writing about it. Soon the mail she received filled her own house to overflowing, and she bought a second house. Finally, in 1914, President Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

As part of her story of this holiday, Mrs. Phelan shows how mothers or mother deities were honored on special days earlier in history. She also describes some of the surprising ways in which the day is celebrated in various parts of the globe.

Illustrations by Aliki, full of warmth, humor, and originality, present Mother's Day as a time for rich enjoyment.

From the dust jacket