ALL OF BABY, NOSE TO TOES
by Victoria Adler and illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
Speech pathologist Adler harnesses her knowledge of language to introduce baby’s cutest body parts (all of them) through playful sounds, words, beats and rhyme. Light, lovely verse delivers gleeful repetitions of vowel and consonant sounds; words bubble and bounce, coming together in firm, satisfying stress patterns. A small reader will proudly pound a fist as they declare their tummy is “smooth and tight / as a drum-drum-drummy!” Beautiful recurrences occur in Nakata’s sunny watercolor illustrations as well. Spring colors surround the adorable baby girl and her doting family, all with rosy cheeks, alert eyes and ready smiles. Each body part receives the same treatment: a close-up on left page, followed by a four-square quadrant of action images on right. A closing question surfaces again and again, “Who loves baby’s [toes, legs, ears]?” The following page reveals a family member exclaiming, “Me! I do.” Readers come to anticipate this warm affirmation and join in the chorus. This intuitive picture book exposes children to the beauty of language, their bodies and a communal expression of love. (Picture book. 0-3)