BABY AND ME

Name: BABY AND ME
Author: Emma Dodd
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6544-9

by Emma Dodd ; illustrated by Emma Dodd ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2014

Pushing actual child care duties off on preschoolers is a nonstarter, but this may help prepare younger prospective sibs for...

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A child with a doll demonstrates baby care in this sweet, decidedly purposeful outing.

“This is me,” begins the stroller-pushing young narrator. “And this… / is my baby doll.” On she goes to show bottle feeding, diaper changing (sans any visible sign of need for same), bathing and toweling dry, and then putting down in a rocking cradle. “Being a mommy is really hard work!” she concludes meaningfully, and so she promises to give her own mommy lots of help—with “our new baby!” Using a palette of, largely, pale pinks and blues, Dodd crafts big, simply drawn illustrations of the cheery tot with her doll (both Caucasian). They are enhanced by glued-in swatches of soft cloth representing towel and diaper, plus pull tabs that lower a stroller’s hood, empty a milk bottle and float a rubber ducky across the tub. A climactic double-flap doorway reveals mommy with both baby and new big sister on her lap.

Pushing actual child care duties off on preschoolers is a nonstarter, but this may help prepare younger prospective sibs for family changes. (Pop-up/picture book. 3-4)