DAY-OLD CHILD

Pearson’s popular poem gets complementary illustrations.

The short poem talks of a mother’s wish that her day-old child could understand her words so she could tell them all about God. “My day-old child lay in my arms. / In a whisper, lips to ear— / I said, ‘Oh, dear one, how I wish—’ / ‘I wish that you could hear.’ ” And as she whispers this wish to her child, she sees a light in the babe’s eyes and has the thought that perhaps the child similarly wishes for language so that they could tell their mother, before they forget, all about God: “I left God just yesterday.” Egbert’s sweet art keeps the focus on four separate mother-baby pairs that repeat in turn throughout the book. Three of these mothers seem to have opposite-sex partners, and one of these pairings is an interracial one; the fourth could be interpreted as one part of an interracial same-sex couple. All four, along with the various family members, are racially diverse. Figures are outlined definitively but with a soft, smudgy line that welcomes readers in. The soft colors and clear love seen on all the faces make this an attractive package for parents who are waiting to share the love of God with their little ones, though there is little here that will appeal to those little ones directly.

A sweet baby shower book for religious parents.