My Pet Wants a Pet, by Elise Broach

A black boy asks his white mother for a dog.  She (finally) agrees, but then his dog wants a pet.  And then the dog's cat wants a pet!  The boy's mother gets increasingly frustrated until he realizes that she is "a special and important someone, who wasn't happy."  As a solution, he gifts her himself in a box because "whenever you take care of something, that something takes care of you" - a theme that is repeated throughout the story.

There are countless wonderful things about this book that both my son and I adore.  The writing is simple but catchy - the repetitive story leads to us both gleefully yelling out variations on "That worm is the pet of the pet of the pet of your pet!  He does NOT NEED A PET" over and over.  Both the illustrations and the story recognize the boy's mother as an important character with her own interests and needs - she is shown reading, doing yoga, washing dishes (with the boy's assistance), working at a desk, and gardening.  There is no father pictured, and they boy can be read as either her biological child or transracially adopted.

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)