LOVE YOU, BABY!

A love letter to animal babies.

Unseen animal parents (except for an adult giraffe and calf on the final pages) share what they love about their little ones in five rhyming couplets that are parceled out, one per double-page spread. The baby beasts cavort through the pages engaging in toddlerlike behavior—playing at the beach, splashing in puddles, and messing about with paints and brushes—in full-bleed scenes, likely created on a computer, that have a mock-homespun look. A penguin chick, a baby mouse, and an elephant calf, among others, are depicted in rounded forms embellished with faux stitch work, à la the artist Sandra Magsamen; the subtle, fabriclike patterns associate them with stuffed animals. Each page, including the cover, has a heart-shaped die-cut hole in ever decreasing sizes for a layered look, culminating on the final page with a sparkly, red heart. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Baby, the companion title in this aptly named series, To Baby, with Love, features the same cast of characters. The focus is on bedtime routines, and here, a star, appropriately enough, is the featured die-cut element.

This has a bit of the feel of an extended greeting card and should appeal to caregivers who want to maximize snuggles.