A Book of Babies

October 21, 2013
“When the flowers begin to bloom and the world starts turning green, animals everywhere are born... including the noisy ducklings.” A mother duck whose brood hatches all at once sends the father duck off to look at other animal infants. He dives underwater to view fish babies (“Some have lots of brothers and sisters”), waddles on land to see zebras (“Some can walk right away”), and flies over ice floes to look at polar bear cubs (“some are born with soft, warm fur”). There’s a guessing game implied, too: the names of the animals aren’t given, so readers must supply them. Na’s (Hide & Seek) spreads mix textures and patterns like a series of quilts, punctuating fields of bright color and bold shapes with arabesques and filigree. A fixed horizon line gives the pages the feeling of an unspooling scroll. The golden light of afternoon turns into the orange of sunset as the babies prepare for their very first night (“babies everywhere need their rest”), and the sleepy ducklings settle down, too. Language, tone, and images all combine to create the gentlest bedtime entertainment. Up to age 3.

Starred review from November 15, 2013
Spring arrives, and a neighborly duck leaves his own nest of ducklings to greet new animal babies far and wide. He pops up in unexpected locales, observing infant fish, monkeys, zebras, lions, kangaroos, sea horses, polar bears and lizards--all snuggling with mommies and daddies in their habitats. Children never cease finding pleasure (and embedded reassurance) in domestic scenes brimming with love, which this cozy book provides in spades while also offering up some zoological facts in wonderfully plain language. Every double-page spread highlights differences in animal baby characteristics: Some babies arrive alongside their siblings, some come solo, some ride in their mommy's pouches, some nestle in their daddy's, some can walk right away, some get carried around, some have fur, and some have scales. Undulating rainbow colors, circular patterns and fibrous textures swirl across leaves, animal bodies and sky, creating a lively natural world. Here's evidence that digital tinkering can yield richly layered, cohesive artwork that captures the kaleidoscopic beauty of the animal kingdom, its shadows, lights, colors, textures and shapes. Night falls and finds all the newborns ready for sleep, nudging little readers to shut their eyes too. Sweet, stimulating illustrations offer up baby basics for bedtime. (Picture book. 2-4)

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December 1, 2013

PreS-Children are taken on an entertaining, duck-led tour in springtime and given insight into the first day in the lives of eight diverse animals. The babies highlighted have distinct differences right from the start. Some are "only children," while others have many siblings. Some can walk immediately, others cannot. On each beautifully colored spread, the parent of five new ducklings at the book's beginning shows readers the differing capabilities of the other newborn offspring. Na's signature, intriguing illustrations are a delight to peruse with their handmade painterly textures and digitally generated layers. Creatures from Africa, Australia, the Arctic, and the ocean commingle happily and share in the joy of new life.-Maryann H. Owen, Children's Literature Specialist, Mt. Pleasant, WI

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2013
Preschool-G In this vibrant picture book, spring brings the birth of baby animals, beginning with noisy ducklings. One of the parent ducks leaves its mate and their hatchlings in the nest and goes off to observe other animal families throughout the day. The text draws contrasts between the baby animals shown in the pictures. Some have many siblings, while others have none. Some can walk, but others are carried. Some ride in their mother's pouch, others in their father's. Some are furry, while others are scaly. It's all a bit fanciful, as the animals observed include zebras, sea horses, and polar bears. With just one sentence or phrase on each double-page spread, children can spend as much time as they like absorbing the content, searching for the duck in each picture, and enjoying the colorful springtime scenes. Defined by sweeping black lines, the forms of animals, trees, and plants appear in pleasingly varied compositions, enhanced by digitally collaged painted paper elements that add color, texture, and decorative patterns. A pleasant spring read-aloud choice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
Whimsical mixed-media illustrations picture a duckling observing animal babies' differences and similarities: fish have multiple siblings, zebras walk at birth, some are carried in pouches, and others are covered with scales or fur, but all sleep at day's end. The story is soothing, but that the duckling is omnipresent across varied habitats and climates (under the ocean, polar regions, etc.) may strike viewers as odd.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)