When a child asks about the source of all the rain that has been pouring down for days, grandfather Big T. says he will reveal that answer after the storm, adding: "But first we'll have to find the biggest puddle in the world." Read full book review >

Peek inside five different purses, each one owned by a different member of the same family. Read full book review >

Like its predecessors in the Urban Babies Wear Black series, this outing, although ostensibly aimed at one-to-three-year-olds, offers very little for its target audience but lots for grown-ups. Page after page of text far beyond babies' conceptual ken ("Jet-set babies have an entourage") are paired with Dion's sophisticated images, which are characterized by muted colors and busy patterns that fly in the face of research into brain and vision development. There's lots of humor on hand for the adult: "Jet-set babies speak foreign languages" depicts a black baby saying, "gagagooGOO" to a white baby who replies, "GAgagoogoo"—all in hand-drawn letters that further confuse the composition. Smug and irritating. (adult)Read full book review >

The latest in the Urban Babies Wear Black series demonstrates a wry sense of humor, crisp, sophisticated graphics and a thematic approach that leaves its presumed audience of babies in the cold. In addition to wearing bibs, it appears that foodie babies "know their way around a kitchen," "browse farmers' markets" and "dine al fresco." Dion's illustrations partake of a Helen Oxenbury-style sense of irony (the baby sharing "small plates" is seen from behind, flinging peas at a startled mother), but the complexity of their rendering puts them far beyond the visual comprehension of an actual baby. More for smug foodie parents than real babies—but we already knew that. (2-3)Read full book review >