NO ROOM FOR BABY!

Leon is sure there’s no room for his new baby brother, Marcel, outside of his crib until he finds just the right spot.

This new-baby story features a family of anthropomorphic penguins who, despite their presumed Antarctic origins, live in a remarkably spacious cartoon-style igloo outfitted with chairs, beds, curtained windows, and a crib for Marcel. New big brother Leon asks his mother hopefully if Marcel will always stay in his crib. When she smilingly replies in the negative, he tries to make the case that there’s simply no room for the baby in his own bedroom, on her lap, or up high on his father’s shoulders. But when Marcel begins to cry, Leon suddenly announces that there is room enough for the baby in his own arms, and he snuggles him close in a sudden surge of brotherly affection. This happy resolution seems rather abrupt, but the sparseness of the storyline is matched by the clean aesthetic of the simple illustrations, created with black pencil crayons and oils in a limited color palette. The penguins look like black potatoes with pipestem feet, wings, and white, rosy-cheeked faces with tiny yellow beaks.

A simple, positive new-baby book.