Author/illustrator Sophie Beer brings us another charming and delightful board book in the vein of her Love Makes a Family, this time focusing on babies and the joy (and occasional chaos) they bring to their families.
Beer’s colorful, exuberant illustrations show the parents caring for, playing with, and having adventures with their newest young ones, sometimes with a sibling as well. One page asserts:
You’re a sunrise, baby!
Fresh, rosy, and new.
We can’t wait to discover
the things you will do
… while another observes:
You’re lightning, baby!
Fast and electric.
Zapping and zooming,
you’re so energetic!
as the mother chases after the child, who is pushing a wheeled toy across the room as toys go flying. The last few pages speak to weathering storms together as a family, to the comfort and protection the parents will provide, and to the rainbow and sunshine the child brings to their lives.
The book includes one two-mom couple, both White. (They could also be read as a mom and a nonbinary parent; one has an asymmetric, shave-sided haircut that feels gender ambiguous. I am tagging it both ways so readers can decide for themselves.) There’s also a mom-dad couple with light brown skin and the mother wearing a hijab; another mom-dad couple is Black. Finally, there’s one parent who appears to be a single mom.
While three of the moms are pregnant in the first spread, the single mom already has her child, leaving some room to envision a family formed in other ways. In one scene, too, she is breastfeeding her child, a nice bit of representation not often seen in picture books. (Her breast is hidden by the child’s head, but her shirt is off one shoulder, so it’s clear what’s happening.)
Sweet, cheerful, and full of diverse representation, this is a highly recommended volume that should particularly appeal to families with new babies.
