Behold! a Baby

March 15, 2015
Step right up, folks, and witness...a besotted dad touting the world's most extraordinary phenomenon-a baby. While awestruck emcee Dad extols the baby's amazing, never-before-witnessed talents before a live audience-accomplishments include smiling, eating a banana, and babbling-older brother grumbles "Big deal" from the cheap seats. Not to be outshone by a mere infant, he shows off what he can do: he eats two bananas simultaneously and trumps the baby talk with a song. The spectators are underwhelmed. Then the baby utters something incomprehensible, and even Dad and the audience take a breather from oohing and aahing. What can this new mouthful of gibberish mean? "Duh. So obvious," says big brother-and translates to the wonderment of all. After that, guess who takes center stage and realizes the little tyke isn't such a scene-stealing, attention-grabbing bore after all-plus has big plans for a new performance featuring "BROTHERS"? The story is mildly amusing with its obvious spoof of proud parents' gushiness over everything a new baby does. Adults will get the stage shtick; little kids, not so much. This is a nice addition to the crowded field of titles about older kids cottoning to their new siblings, but except for the theater angle, it doesn't really offer much that's fresh. The flat, digital illustrations are lively and expressive; the characters' large mouths will evoke smiles. Ecce yet another picture book that shines a spotlight on the older kid who decides that it's OK for babies to be stars. (Picture book. 3-5)

April 1, 2015

K-Gr 2-In a story told almost entirely in speech bubbles, a father stands on stage touting, announcer-style, the incredible milestones of a baby while an admiring audience ooohs and aahhs. Only big brother is unimpressed-he can do all of the same things and no one cares. It shouldn't come as a surprise that big brother turns out to be the only one who can translate for the crying baby or that once he gets to share the spotlight, he begins to see the baby as a brother and partner instead of a competitor for attention. Digital cartoon artwork features large headed characters with oversize mouths-perhaps to go along with the speech bubbles? The end scenes depicting what big brother can do with little brother are warm and affirming and could lead to discussions about how to be a big brother/sister helper. Libraries looking for more books on new babies might try Caroline Jayne Church's I Am a Big Brother (Scholastic, 2015) or Kathi Appelt's Brand-New Baby Blues (HarperCollins, 2009). VERDICT An additional purchase for libraries needing more books about adjusting to a new sibling.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

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