Baby Loves to Rock!

December 3, 2012
Kirwan departs from the soft retro style of her earlier books to deploy an in-your-face aesthetic that’s just right for this pun-filled celebration of music. Each page shows off animals’ musical preferences (“The skunk loves punk”) and talents (“The hummingbirds don’t know the words./ But the owl can screech!”), while the question “But who loves to rock?” reappears as a shouted refrain. Title aside, the best clue to the answer comes near the end, when a tiny hand emerges from off-page, simultaneously grasping a rattle and making a two-fingered devil’s horns salute like a Gene Simmons in training. Rock on, little ones. Ages 1–4. Agent: Tugeau 2.

Various animals and one baby show off their musical talents. With one sentence per page and puns that are a mix of the clever and the groan-worthy, the text shares the type of music each creature prefers: "The skunk loves punk. / The weasel likes to pop." The spreads depict the critters engaging in music-related activities and sporting appropriate clothing, accessories and instruments. The highly saturated, slickly retro cartoons have a playful energy and truly pop against solid-color backgrounds with black panels at the bottom for the text. A double-page spread appears at three different intervals asking a variation of "But who really loves to rock?" in a graphic, bold type. On the last two pages, readers learn that "Baby loves to rock, rock, ROCK!" An exuberant infant with oversize eyes appears on a rocking horse, in a cradle and then finally "rocking out" on an electric guitar. While there are ingenious moments in the words and the visuals, all of it is going to go over the heads of babies and toddlers. This is one of those board books that is more for the grown-up readers than the children themselves. Kirwan's style is energetic and enjoyable, and here's hoping she can find more developmentally appropriate material. (Board book. 1-3) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.