BOOM, BABY, BOOM BOOM!

This reissue of Mahy’s 1997 publication illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy rings with her familiar, infectious rhythm and repetition and is rejuvenated with new illustrations.

As Mama lays out lunch for Baby, who sits in her blue highchair, she says: “And while you eat it all up, I’ll just biddy-boom-boom on my diddy-dum-drums. Beating those drums makes me feel at ease with the world.” But Mama doesn’t know that animals are listening at the window. While Mama beats her drums with blissful concentration, Baby throws down each food item on the floor—and then one animal after another creeps, lollops, ambles, scuttles and trots into the kitchen, snatches it up and scrambles out the door. The cat eats the cheese, the dog eats the bread and honey, the chickens eat the apple slices, the sheep eats the lettuce, and the cow eats the carrot. Chamberlain captures the charm of the simple tale with aplomb by incorporating the repetition of the drum sounds and the animal noises in large bold type. The illustrations are brighter in color than the originals, and the baby is given a bit more to do (she is particularly charming as she plays with the lettuce leaves). Both text and images have a whimsy that invites participation.

One cool Mama, one cunning baby and five opportunistic animals—yum, yum, fun.