The message that they are “SWEET BABIES! NICE BABIES!” is one that many babies will want to hear again and again.
This babycentric board book features a diverse cast of characters.
Harris is best known for her matter-of-fact and accurate nonfiction (It’s Perfectly Normal, 1994; Who Has What!, 2011; etc.). Her first board book is equally positive, direct, and charming. Although the cover art shows a brown-skinned girl with two poofy pigtails looking up at the titular question, the first double-page spread answers it with a picture of a blond, white boy: “SWEET BABY! NICE BABY!” Is the promised diversity an illusion? Thankfully, no. The next illustrations are of loving pairs—a dark-skinned baby and his “DADA!” are followed by an Asian “MAMA!” “GRAMMA!” is wearing a hijab. In all, 10 different babies, including a set of twins, are shown. The text on each spread is similar, so young children will quickly join in the refrain: “Who? / Who’s that?” The answer is in bright pink uppercase letters. Each right-hand page repeats “Who’s that?” with “BABY AND…” in pink followed by the declarative, “That’s who!” The final spread echoes the first spread, with all the babies identified as “SWEET BABIES! NICE BABIES!” Rosenberg’s illustrations in a springtime palette against white backgrounds are cheery but not saccharine.
The message that they are “SWEET BABIES! NICE BABIES!” is one that many babies will want to hear again and again. (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2834-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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