This Is Baby

November 4, 2019
The team behind Everything Is Mama returns with another simple, colorful picture book likely to delight toddlers. In rhyming text augmented by speech bubbles, the narrator points out babies’ body parts, one by one. The babies are digitally painted in varying shades, from brown to peach to chartreuse. Smiling animals provide gentle reinforcement; a rhino graces the page that indicates Baby’s nose, while an elephant is featured on the page that identifies Baby’s ears. While visually following the anatomical directives may be a bit difficult considering the babies’ amorphous cartoon features, parents can provide helpful clarity. Imbalanced enjambment across spreads (“This is Baby’s tummy./ And if tickling is a problem... / just turn baby over and this is Baby’s/ bottom!”) may cause rhythmic disruptions, but the spare text, with its earnest final sentence, provides ample room for improvisation. Ages 1–3.