HAPPY BIRTH DAY!

by Robie H. Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1996

Perhaps designed for the baby-gift market (the title page is preceded by a page for recording a newborn's vital statistics), this book occupies an unusual niche: There are plenty of books about gestation, birth, and infancy, but this one focuses on the baby's experiences in the minutes and hours immediately following birth, particularly on the bonding between parents and newborn. In carefully detailed text and pictures, Harris and Emberley (It's Perfectly Normal, 1994) make the day of firsts realistic without being clinical: The wrinkled, puffy baby is more presentable than many newborns. Large, smiling adult faces and solicitous hands surround the baby in nearly every picture. The earthier aspects of infancy are all noted: cutting the umbilical cord, nursing, peeing, pooping, burping, sneezing, and hiccuping, as well as sleeping and crying. The predominant message, however, is of the love and wonder that greet this child from her first moment.

Pub Date: July 1, 1996

ISBN: 061374733X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996

Categories: CHILDREN'S