One Naked Baby

January 1, 2007
PreS-The pictures tell the story in this charming counting book. They begin with a spread depicting a child tearing gleefully out of the bathroom and down the hall, pursued by his sassily dressed mama. The spirited toddler goes on to hide in the laundry room, try on a silly hat before getting dressed, pause for a toe-tickling session, eat his lunch, and then join his mother outside for some rainy-day play. In the yard, he finds worms to dig up and puddles to splash in. Naturally, the day comes full circle, with one naked child back in the bathtub. The concise text does little more than name items to count in each picture, starting with the youngster and counting up to 10 happy daffodils, and then back down to one again. This simplicity makes the book an appropriate choice to read aloud to toddlers. The joyous, jewel-toned watercolor illustrations, however, present a more complex and nuanced narrative. The many details will spark preschoolers' imaginations, extending the book's appeal to a much wider audience. The endpapers show an abbreviated version of the story, with a dotted line marking the boy's path through his busy day."Rachael Vilmar, Atlanta Fulton Public Library, GA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.