A sweet and inclusive look at the different ways that families are formed.
An exploration of the many ways, traditional and nontraditional, that families grow.
This bighearted board book launches with a note about how a family starts with a wish. From there, the story details a variety of ways to welcome a new baby into a family, holding reverent space for diverse experiences. A straightforward rhyming text puts an array of topics—from surrogacy to adoption—into a child-friendly context that will both validate young readers’ own experiences as well as provide context for children in families that may have formed in a way different from their own. With its uncomplicated sentences, the story includes just enough detail for young readers: “The belly might belong to Mom, / But also it may not. / Sometimes another special belly / Is the perfect spot.” An emphasis on how much babies are loved by their families once they become a part of them, regardless of the process, is underscored throughout the book. Family bonds shine brightly in cheerful, crisp-lined illustrations featuring bold colors and patterns. The illustrations focus on several interracial opposite-sex couples, but there’s also one interracial same-sex couple and one possible single-parent family. Parents, children, and babies are racially diverse. A glossary of terms at the close—including the words and phrases womb, birth parents, foster parent(s), forever parent(s), and more—provides an opportunity to continue the conversation.
A sweet and inclusive look at the different ways that families are formed. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22367-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2021
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to.
This simplified version of Diesen and Hanna’s The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) is appropriate for babies and toddlers.
Brief, rhyming text tells the story of a sullen fish cheered up with a kiss. A little pink sea creature pokes his head out of a hole in the sea bottom to give the gloomy fish some advice: “Smile, Mr. Fish! / You look so down // With your glum-glum face / And your pout-pout frown.” He explains that there’s no reason to be worried, scared, sad or mad and concludes: “How about a smooch? / And a cheer-up wish? // Now you look happy: / What a smile, Mr. Fish!” Simple and sweet, this tale offers the lesson that sometimes, all that’s needed for a turnaround in mood is some cheer and encouragement to change our perspective. The clean, uncluttered illustrations are kept simple, except for the pout-pout fish’s features, which are delightfully expressive. Little ones will easily recognize and likely try to copy the sad, scared and angry looks that cross the fish’s face.
An upbeat early book on feelings with a simple storyline that little ones will respond to. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37084-8
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
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