We've had "Hello Baby!" on loan from the library for less than a week and it's already become a go to favourite for my 15 month old son. The simple white background highlights Steve Jenkins' beautiful, bright illustrations. The inclusion of a silhouette for each animal seems to particularly please my son, who delights in identifying the eagle ("bird!").While most of the rhymes throughout the story are well considered, the ending is a little awkward to read for anyone who does 't make use of the Australian colloquial term of endearment "treasure" to refer to a small child. Most parents could probably substitute this with their own pet name - sweetheart, darling, love, or the child's own nickname - to end the story more naturally. Fox is a huge advocate of early reading experiences being an important part of parent-child bonding, and this infuses the books she creates. It is natural therefore that this one ends with the opportunity to express love and gratitude to the little person in your life, but I imagine most people would express it slinky differently. Overall, another great outing from the unflagging Mem Fox. This might be that most special of things - a library book we need to buy our own copy of! A good possibility for a toddler storytime. Except for the ending. It doesn't work for me, so when I read the book, I'm ending after the zebra.4/13/10 & 4/15/10 The book worked pretty well for pointing out our body parts (noses, teeth, eyes) that corresponded with the animals. Even the dusty paws didn't throw them--they knew it was their hands. Some kids even did growly sounds with clawed paws. And I ended after zebra, which worked perfectly.
What do You think about Hello Baby! (2009)?
for babies, cut paper illustrations, animals, pair with brown bear, brown bear what do you see
—GlaBonifacio
I think I have found my new go-to baby shower book. And no, you can't have it.
—phobicrob
