Far less detailed than most such explanations, this title in the Just Enough series for the very young is best as a...
A child psychologist offers simple answers to a perennial question.
Opening with the statement “Nature has given every living thing a way to make a baby,” the author goes on to explain that babies come from a mother’s body, from her womb, “just below the stomach.” The combination of a sperm and an egg from a father and mother, whose “bodies fit together,” creates the seed that will become a baby. Going on to discuss a baby’s nourishment via the umbilical cord, she makes a nice connection, pointing out that the child reader has a belly button, too. When the baby is ready to be born, it exits via the mother’s birth canal, at home or in a hospital. Colorful cartoonlike digital illustrations link human children and the wide world of growing things in a variety of scenes including a growth chart measured by fruits and vegetables. These illustrations show families of different ethnicities; in one case two women carry a baby from a hospital. The backmatter—questions and answers in a smaller font without illustration—addresses more-complicated issues, using words like penis, vagina, in vitro fertilization, conception, fertility, Cesarean section as well as mentioning adoption and nontraditional families.
Far less detailed than most such explanations, this title in the Just Enough series for the very young is best as a conversation starter. (Informational picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0942-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
Although a bit on the slight side, this offering is infused with a warm, light humor just right for cuddling up with a young...
This title previously published in the U.K. takes a cozy look at all kinds of kisses.
Walsh’s rhyming text is full of cutesy rhythms: “Kisses on noses, kisses on toes-es. Sudden kisses when you least supposes.” Sometimes the phrasing stumbles: “Who likes to kiss? I do! I do! Even the shy do. Why not try, too?” But toddlers and young preschoolers will probably not mind. They will be too engaged in spotting the lively penguin on each spread and too charmed by Abbot’s winsome illustrations that fittingly extend the wording in the story. Patient dogs queue up for a smooch from a frog prince, cool blue “ ’normous elephants” contrast strikingly with bright red “little tiny ants” and a bewildered monkey endures a smattering of lipstick kisses. Be the kiss small or tall, one to start or end the day, young readers are reminded that “the very best kiss… / is a kiss from you!” Perhaps no big surprise but comforting nonetheless.
Although a bit on the slight side, this offering is infused with a warm, light humor just right for cuddling up with a young tyke or sharing with a gathering for storytime. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2769-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
