SUCH A SILLY BABY!
by Steffanie Lorig and Richard Lorig & illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
A perplexed mom has trouble returning home from outings with her own baby in this boisterous debut from Team Lorig. Rollicking rhymes take readers around town as the pair visit the zoo, a circus, a farm and a Wild West show. Each time, though, Mom brings home an animal in place of her baby. “The circus came, I took him there. / We laughed at clowns with funny hair. / But there was a hitch . . . / my baby got switched, / and I went home with a dancing bear!” She returns the next day to swap them back, although by then her baby has picked up the mannerisms of the animal he has been impersonating. Repetitive elements make this a great one for shared reading. Shepherd’s exuberant oil illustrations match the preposterousness of the text perfectly, cleverly building in visual cues to help readers guess what animal might be going home with Mom. A lively flight into imagination—mothers may never look at outings the same way again. (Picture book. 2-5)