THE TROUBLE WITH BABY

Hannah and Sam well-known from their earlier outings (The Big Brown Box, 2000; Hannah!, 2001, etc.) play everything together; at least until Hannah gets a new doll that she takes everywhere she goes. Instead of keeping Baby on her bed with all of her other dolls, Hannah places her on the table during meals and props her on the sink while brushing her teeth. Baby is even given her own chair when they all play school, offering better answers to Hannah’s questions than Sam can provide. Their parents bring a large box home and Hannah and Sam decide to make a jukebox with cutouts to stick their heads through and buttons for their parents to press when they want to hear songs. Sam’s patience with Hannah and her new toy hits its limit when Baby gets her own button and is allowed to sing her own song. His protests that Baby is only a doll make no difference to Hannah, who insists on giving Baby all her attention. Sam and Hannah refuse to talk to each other after the blow-up, but they soon realize that playing with toys is not as much fun as playing together. Simplistic artwork rendered in bright gouache illustrates the text. Not Russo at her simple best, this familiar family story rambles on and offers nothing new. (Picture book. 4-6)