OUR BROTHER AND HIS CHAIR

A fun, full-color family tribute to a baby boy and his walker-chair.

Rahaman’s adorably rendered portrait of a baby and his older siblings is slight on actual story but will no doubt bring a smile to readers’ faces. Every page contains at least one candid amateur photograph of the nearly ambulatory upstart in his rolling chair. The photos feature a limited range of activities–the life of a toddler is happily not complex–and are usually accompanied by a single line of text describing the adventurous boy’s actions, imagined inner feelings and not-so-inner protests. The charming prose is appropriately simple, but makes the book’s ideal audience only very young children, since a child at reading age would be able to handle stories with more complexity and variation. The book’s strength is in the personal atmosphere it creates–obviously the product of a loving family, the quasi-professional graphics and family pictures are enough to inspire any parents to start their own family photo-stories. The graphic design adds a sense of scrapbookish fun. The children are adorable, and the images have a positive message for families with more than one child–the proud elder brother and sister seem the type to keep a close eye on their younger sibling as he bumps and bruises his way through toddlerhood. The book closes with an image of the empty walker-chair, prompting readers to wonder if the little boy has tired himself out or begun to take his first unaided steps. Perhaps the answer will arrive in a sequel.

A personal family album, appropriate for only the youngest of audiences.