DEAR BABY,

A love letter to the first five years of life.

Rosenthal previously partnered with her mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, to pen Dear Girl, (2017), her father, Jason Rosenthal, for Dear Boy, (2019), and now ventures out as a solo author in an ode to babies everywhere. The same epistolary format applies; here, the words of encouragement, advice, and just plain silliness are directed toward the tiniest of tots. Rosenthal encourages tenacity: “Dear Baby, / It’s okay to make mistakes. / Get back up and make your mark!” (A line of paint-smeared handprints connects spilled paint cans to a youngster happily creating art on the wall and some paper.) Rosenthal also encourages curiosity: Quite literally, the mandate “BE CURIOUS” stretches across the double-page spread, but the sentiment is also clear in a spread that depicts babies watching animals, playing with flowers, and chasing floating bubbles. “Dear Baby, / Explore, / explore, / explore. / There’s always more.” At times, the text hovers close to saccharine (“I hope your dreams come true. / Mine did when I met you”), but since the work is catering to doting caregivers, a little schmaltz is to be expected. Happily, Hatam’s stark-white skin tones from the previous books have warmed, and most babies throughout are painted in a variety of shades. Hatam also includes various adult caregivers to showcase many ages of loved ones. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 60.2% of actual size.)

One for the baby-shower lists.