THANK YOU FOR ME!
by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Kristina Stephenson
Bauer offers a simple celebration of self suitable for babies and toddlers that identifies basic body parts and functions with gentle, rhyming text that uses just a few words per page. Midway through the book, the children use their “two hands to pray,” moving on to say thank you for all those body parts and concluding, “thank you for me.” The fluid rhythm and graceful rhyme make it a useful choice for babies just moving into longer books. Stephenson’s watercolors follow the gentle mood of the text with soft colors, rounded shapes and smiling children enjoying pleasant experiences such as dancing, twirling with a hula hoop and playing music. Her illustrations use lots of white space and not too many background details, so youngsters can focus on the children in the illustrations without too many distractions. Though God is not actually mentioned in the text, this understated offering can serve as an introduction to prayer for toddlers and their families. (Picture book/religion. 1-3)