Over the past decade, tattoos have become a widely accepted form of artistic expression for people from all walks of life. With the number of Americans inked, including millions of mommies and daddies, it’s amazing how under-valued tattooed parents were in children’s books and early education. In fact, there was no representation to be heard of until Phil Padwe published Mommy Has a Tattoo, with its message of validation and acceptance. Since its release, the groundbreaking storybook has acquired an impressive swell of readers, leading to Amazon selling out repeatedly. The story is about a little boy named James, who is afraid of his tattooed neighbor until he realizes his mother has a tattoo as well. In one afternoon, James learns that tattoos are not scary at all and his neighbor is really just a nice man with some colorful body art. A simple concept – but timely and relatable to kids everywhere.
The book emphasizes the importance of familiarizing children with tattoos at a young age and eliminates the common notion of “scary” that has sometimes been linked to tattoos.
In a recent book reading, Padwe shared his story with three classes of 2nd graders at PS 87, a Manhattan public school, and asked who in the group had a tattooed parent. In response, he noticed that nearly half of the students raised their hands… a number up significantly from readings he did just a few years ago. From New York to thousands of families nationwide, the storybook has become a favorite in the tattoo community.
Through friendly characters and positive explanations of body art, Mommy Has a Tattoo eliminates the negative notion that is sometimes associated with tattoos. More importantly, it’s a book with which today’s children will relate, raising their enjoyment of reading. Numerous five star ratings attest to the positive appraisal and the folks at Pricked magazine add, “This book belongs in the home of every tattooed family!”
After a decade in marketing, Phil Padwe has been working the nightshift at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as a security guard, which allows him to work on his art and children’s books during the days. He recently was interviewed for his work as a fine-artist by NPR, WNYC, and NYC Cable News after his painted portrait of Edgar Alan Poe appeared in the New York Times.
Combining a lifelong love of storytelling, illustration, and tattoos, Phil was born to write this book. He has been collecting ink for over 20 years, and with two sleeves of his own, takes his mission of “Teaching Tattoo Tolerance” seriously.
Phil was born in the 70’s, educated in the 80’s, and spent much of the 1990’s in Marketing and Graphic Design.
A graduate of the writing program at SUNY Purchase (BA in Poetry, class of ’99), Phil currently lives and works in New York City as an artist and illustrator.
To view more of Phil’s work, check out his site HERE.
“First of all, there’s not really an “us.” The fact is… this is a one man operation! In keeping with the DIY (do it yourself) work ethic… I wrote a story… then illustrated it… then colored it… then did all the layout and design to make it an actual book… then handled the pre-press, printing, and sourcing chores… drove the truck when the books arrived… created this web site… it’s all done by hand. My name is Phil Padwe
Mommy Has a Tattoo has been translated and published overseas and is available in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and The Netherlands, as “Mami Hat Ein Tattoo!” Here in the USA, the book has been carried by a diverse group of selective retailers… including Marc Jacobs (Little Marc Jacobs children’s boutique), The Philadelphia Maritime Museum, and Ricky’s NYC. It is more widely available at Amazon.com, and better booksellers. Over 3,000 copies have sold (and counting), making Mommy Has a Tattoo a best selling self-published children’s book!
A few years back, I began noticing a new breed of tattooed, down-to-earth parents. It was hard NOT to notice, because my best friends, coworkers and closest family members were among this group. Instead of being caught up in some “laser removal guilt trip,” I saw an entire generation of parents embracing their individuality! I’ve got sleeves myself, so it’s a bit of an understatement to say tattoos aren’t a big deal to me or most of my friends.
These days, as we all know, tattooed parents are highly visible just about everywhere. Except in children’s books! I couldn’t believe, when I went shopping on my lunch-break one day (for a baby-book for my tattooed buddy, who’d just had a son)… that there were no characters (and certainly no parents!) in children’s books, who had tattoos. Tattooed people simply weren’t represented, even though millions of American families have happily tattooed mommies and daddies! What’s up with that?
Were the big book publishers not showing tattooed people in their books because they hoped we’d all just quietly go away? Was there something wrong with having both tattoos AND children? In short, I saw the opportunity for a new kind of children’s book because I saw our generation producing a new kind of parent!
I wanted to make a book that kids would really, truly, love. It’s drawn in a fun, animated, colorful style… specifically for toddlers and little ones. I learned (and was encouraged) to draw, as a 4 or 5 year old, by copying Snoopy and Charlie Brown from the newspaper strips… circular, easy-to-draw characters comprised of simple shapes. So that’s the route I took, when it was time for illustrating this book. See my website for the type of drawing I typically do…
Also, “Mommy Has a Tattoo” had to be something that parents would be cool about giving, or receiving. Let’s face it… this is a baby-shower gift if ever there was one… so it was really important that this be fun, light-hearted… the kind of thing you’d want to give your friends. My goal, in short, was to make this positive for everyone involved. For mommies, and toddlers, and for the those of us who buy books for babies!
Share it with someone you love!”
Plus, you can also order Mommy Has a Tattoo Coloring Book! Millions of people have tattoos and millions more love them. But how many have the opportunity to color in real tattoo designs? This entertaining coloring book offers readers the chance to do just that. It contains designs so realistic they might be seen in a tattoo shop. That’s because every single page is based on real-life tattoos! Created by artist and writer Phil Padwe, author of Mommy Has a Tattoo, this unique book is perfect for reference, practice, or just plain fun! Great for kids and parents.
The Tattoo coloring book retails for $9.95.
Click HERE to purchases Mommy Has a Tattoo and, for a limited time, receive a signed copy from the author/illustrator!
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A complimentary product/service was provided for this review; however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents Disclosure Policy for more details.
this mom has a tattoo or two!
Hi Tattoo Trisha =)
I think you’d really enjoy this book!