CUDDLE

Close-up black-and-white photos depict babies cuddling with their loved ones.

These soft-toned images of racially diverse infants sporting a variety of facial expressions fill each right-hand page. On the left-hand page, one sentence of the light verse that comprises the book is meted out: “Smooch, baby, smooch. / Lips are made for kissing. / Hug, baby, hug. / It’s you I have been missing.” Accompanying the text are line-drawn cartoons of babies engaged in physical affection on a pastel blue background and surrounded by stars, hearts, flowers and swirls; at times, these spill over onto the photos. The choice to pair black-and-white photography with color art is an odd one, but the tender photos will draw in viewers of any age. The extreme close-ups do not work quite as well in the companion title, Move, where longer views would have served the action shots of crawling, bouncing and toddling babies better. This title mirrors the format of Cuddle in almost every way but for a pale pink color palette. The last two pages of both books provide practical tips for parents and caregivers on movement and cuddling respectively.

While there is little new or different here, babies will be drawn to the full-page images of their fellow tots.