MAMA, LOOK!

What’s better than a young child enjoying a nature walk with Mama?

Why, a nature walk that includes baby animals and their mamas also marveling at the wonders around them. Out on a sunny-day jaunt, a toddler joyfully exclaims, “Mama, LOOK!” at the sight of some grasshoppers. This sighting leads to a tiny grasshopper’s excitedly using the same refrain to draw its own mama’s attention to ants. An ant tyke cries out the words upon seeing brilliantly colored butterflies, and so on, with a young, awestruck creature intoning the titular phrase with each page turn as it spots a critter of another species and habitat. All comes full circle at the end when a child’s fingers are seen through an opening in a beehive (rendered as a wasps’ nest—a too-common mistake) as a startled young insect cries out the by-now-familiar words. Realistic depictions of the natural world aren’t the point here—none of the “infant” insects are appropriately rendered in larval form, for instance, in addition to the incorrect beehive. The cheerful, cartoony animals take center stage and are adorable and brilliantly colored; a sly hint of the creature to come on each successive spread is generally incorporated. The humans, depicted with pinkish-tan skin, fare less well, appearing somewhat static and disproportionate.

A cheery springboard for small nature lovers to have their own “Mama, look!” opportunities.