BABY SHOES
by Dashka Slater & illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
What happens when an active toddler gets a pair of brand-new shows? Lots! Mama lets Baby chose new shoes “white as light” with a “stripe of blue.” The swell new white shoes are so “high-jumping, fast-running [and] fine looking” that Mama and Baby take a walk. Along the way, Baby draws with red chalk, spins in green grass, steps on purple plums, hops across fresh yellow crosswalk paint and splashes in muddy brown puddles. Every time Mama tries to stop Baby, his new shoes “just go, go, go.” By the time Mama and Baby get home the new white shoes aren’t white any more, but “colored bright in many hues.” Lighthearted multi-hued watercolor illustrations show an exuberant Baby doing everything a wee boy will do when he’s got spiffy new shoes. Fast-moving rhyme and playful illustrations invite kids on the go to scuff, scrape and have a blast breaking them in. (Picture book. 2-6)