YOU AND ME, BABY

A glance at Mom’s first year with Baby.

“Look at you! / So new. // I held you in my arms / and suddenly, just like that, / I became a mom / and you, my baby.” So begins an omniscient everymom’s ode to a baby’s first year, during which time “you howled and I learned / to hold you just so” and “you whimpered / and I rocked you”; by book’s end, “you crawled / and I chased you,” and “you stood / and I steadied you.” Distinguishing this offering from the pack of picture-book love letters to babies is the narrator’s intimation that a mom’s (or presumably any parent’s) experience with an infant isn’t all sunshine, roses, and intoxicating new-baby smell. The book’s penultimate sentence is “Together, we will make it through,” to which a beleaguered new parent may reply, “Whew! Glad to hear it.” Glenn’s pastel-colored digital art, in which a diverse cast plays out the narrative’s mother-baby moments, has a soft-filter look that makes every scene appear invitingly cushiony, as if ready to absorb a tumble. The whole package should be alluring to young children who are curious about their earliest days while also reassuring to adults who wonder if they’ll ever get the hang of parenthood.

A pleasure for young kids and a balm for new parents.