THAT'S WHAT I'D DO

A mother’s love song is presented with appealing, appropriate illustrations.

Country singer Jewel composed and recorded a series of songs before her son Kase was born in July 2011. Most were released on the album The Merry Goes ’Round, but this one didn’t fit. Instead, it’s the basis for the new mother’s first children’s book. Bates has fancifully recreated song scenes using watercolor, gouache, pencil and pastels. A variety of objects—rabbits, goldfish, play house, rocking chair, hats and jewelry and the sun—appear in various iterations, inside and outdoors and, toward the end, together in baby's room. The mother paints the sun for baby's amusement, rocks him while giving him his bottle, and plays with him in a boat that looks much like a bathtub. They dance to bird song and admire themselves in a mirror. After a final rock in the chair, mother and baby end the story nose to nose. Butterflies flit through the pages, but the poem’s rhythm limps. Mothers who hope to share this tender sentiment with their own children would be wise to listen carefully to the accompanying CD. Rather than reading, it’s much easier to sing, “That's what I'd do, do, do, do, do.  / ’Cause I love you, you, you, you, you.”

Might be better as an app.