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IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! by Shigeo Watanabe

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

By

Pub Date: Oct. 3rd, 1988
Publisher: Philomel/Putnam

On Bear's birthday, his grandparents give him an album of photos of his own brief past; parents, grandparents and Bear then happily share it together before going on to a birthday picnic that concludes with one more photo for the album. The story imparts warm family affection, conveying a sense of security that is so intense as to verge on cloying. The simple illustrations are pleasantly colorful and drawn with skill. Only occasional details (e.g., book spines) betray the book's Japanese origin. A couple of unbearlike notes jar: a ""photo"" of Bear with chicken-pox polka dots, and one of Bear as a baby nursing--his mother's anatomy is oddly anomalous! An acceptable birthday story.