Despite its rather lackluster text, this is a comforting book to snuggle with on the couch after a busy day.
On a familiar theme, this book follows a baby through his daily activities.
Baby wakes up, is changed, has breakfast, goes for a walk with “the daddy,” interacts with people in the neighborhood, attends storytime at the library, has fun on the playground, gets tired, and goes home to bath and bed. Family connections are tenderly portrayed, with lots of hugs and kisses from attentive parents and sister. Daddy is shown as a nurturing caregiver, and lots of healthy fruits and veggies are served. Kanevsky’s text is simple enough to be accessible to emergent readers but not without a few roadblocks. The repetition of the titular phrase “Here is the baby/daddy/sister,” which begins each text block, has a rhythm that suggests verse, and it may throw readers to discover it does not rhyme. Yoo’s illustrations have a cozy, reassuring warmth, strongly reminiscent of mid-20th-century classics. Events in the baby’s day are created in an attractive combination of colored pencils and linoleum prints, alternating full-page bleeds with small vignettes. Children will have fun spotting the missing green mitten where it was dropped on the stair at the beginning and reappears at the end of the story. Although there are some dark-skinned people in background scenes, the protagonist and his family appear to be Caucasian.
Despite its rather lackluster text, this is a comforting book to snuggle with on the couch after a busy day. (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-375-86731-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an...
A little boy exults in his new role as big brother.
Rhyming text describes the arrival of a new baby and all of the big brother’s rewarding new duties. He gets to help with feedings, diaper changes, playtime, bathtime, and naptime. Though the rhyming couplets can sometimes feel a bit forced and awkward, the sentiment is sweet, as the focus here never veers from the excitement and love a little boy feels for his tiny new sibling. The charming, uncluttered illustrations convincingly depict the growing bond between this fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, smiling pair of boys. In the final pages, the parents, heretofore kept mostly out of view, are pictured holding the children. The accompanying text reads: “Mommy, Daddy, baby, me. / We love each other—a family!” In companion volume I Am a Big Sister, the little boy is replaced with a little girl with bows in her hair. Some of the colors and patterns in the illustrations are slightly altered, but it is essentially the same title.
A good choice for caregivers looking for a positive, uncomplicated introduction to a new baby that focuses on everything an older sibling can do to help. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-68886-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Mindfully executed (mostly).
In this rhyming board book, 13 cheerful children move through a day of yoga postures, from a morning sun salutation to a bedtime “sleeping pose.”
The opening lines mirror the cadence of the old song “Skinnamarink”: “I love you in the morning / when you salute the sun. // I love you when you stretch out straight. / Our day has now begun!” Unfortunately, the rhyme and scansion deteriorate as the verse continues. “I love you in the garden / when we say hello to plants and trees” is fine, but it’s followed by the tortured “I love you when you make me laugh— / you’re full of such sillies,” and rhyming “down” with “proud” is a huge stretch. Still, the 13 children shown incorporating yoga into everyday play are a diverse bunch. The adults helping the children dress, garden, play, meditate, fly, manage emotions, and explore are equally varied in terms of age and race, though there are no characters with visible disabilities. Any book lover will appreciate the penultimate stanza: “I love you / when we read book… / after book… / after book until the end of the day.” The final line abandons the meter completely. “It is time for bed, sleepyhead. / Namaste.” The last spread labels the poses modeled by each of the children. Clear backgrounds, a large clean type, and thick pages turn this simple paean to love into a useful instruction manual for the youngest yogis.
Mindfully executed (mostly). (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5489-7
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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