Ultimately a book that many new parents will reach for as they revel in their love of baby.
This tribute to a loving family will undoubtedly resonate with many doting parents.
First Mama, then Daddy, then other besotted relatives “reach” for Baby with lots of love. Cuddling, tickling, hugging, reading and playing punctuate their interactions in a rhyming text that delivers a mood of happiness and security as it asserts how important Baby’s family is. The antepenultimate spread states, “Baby is reaching for everything new,” with spot art depicting him reaching for assorted things. This sets the stage for a satisfying, if rather cloying and adult-centered, conclusion showing Mama and Daddy putting Baby to bed with the assurance that, although “Soon Baby will reach for the moon and the stars… For now you’re still ours!” A mobile of a moon and stars hangs above the crib, asserting Mitchell’s skill at extending text as it echoes the prior page’s night sky. Details like this and the pink stuffed dog (unmentioned by the text) who accompanies Baby throughout the book assure visual interest as the soft watercolors match the text’s gentle tone. A further nice illustrative touch shows readers an extended family that just happens to be multiracial.
Ultimately a book that many new parents will reach for as they revel in their love of baby. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55453-456-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Guess how much you’ll be reading this.
Parent and child share a day of small adventures and cozy snuggles.
That the two happen to be tortoises is totally beside the point. Die-cut holes and shaped edges turn nearly every page flip into a surprise. Following a parental “Good morning, Baby” to greet the youngling’s “Wake up, wake up, I want to play… / The sun is up, it’s a brand new day!” the two reptiles ramble off to munch on leaves, weather a sudden rain shower, discover a flock of butterflies, climb a hill, watch the moon rise, and, at last, weary little one perched on top, settle down to snooze again. The paper engineering is ingenious. Turning a seemingly arbitrarily shaped page with a special window framing a pink butterfly fills the spread with many jewel-toned insects; even though the tortoises never change position, the scene is completely transformed. Hegarty’s rhymed narrative features lots of tender sentiments—“Wherever you are, wherever you go, / Baby, I’ll always love you so”—while steering clear of any gender references. In Elliott’s peaceful, grassy settings the wanderers’ small smiles and shared glances likewise create a sense of loving intimacy. This is likely to become a victim of its own appeal, being as the paper stock is rather too flimsy to survive much contact with toddler hands. Still, a clear winner for sharing with audiences of one or dozens.
Guess how much you’ll be reading this. (Novelty. 18 mos.-3)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3509-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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