Where's The Baby?

Where's the Baby?

From School Library Journal PreSchool-In this playful, rhythmic game of hide-and-seek, a gray kitten searches for a toddler. Some of her customary hiding places are predictable-car seat, high chair, playpen, bathtub. Others, while still appropriate, are more unique-the kitchen floor, where she builds a wall of pea-soup cans; the couch, where she tells stories to her Teddy Bear; Daddy's knee. Paxton has fashioned rhyming stanzas of eight lines each that vividly describe the youngster's activities. Words such as hammering, rattling, splashing, laughing, and phrases like "Telling him tales in Teddy talk" please the ear and the imagination. Graham's lovely, light-filled paintings expand and enhance the verses. The backgrounds are in soft, fuzzy colors, as if viewed through a haze. A spotlight shines on the little girl, making her peaches-and-cream skin glow and setting her strawberry-blond hair ablaze. Near the edge of each double-page spread is the kitten, always one step behind. When at last the child is found "Safe in bed," the animal snuggles into the quilt nearby. Prime bedtime fare.Nancy Seiner, The Carnegie Library of PittsburghCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. After looking for the baby in various spots, the reader finds her in a very safe place From Publishers Weekly Singer/songwriter Paxton follows up his most recent picture book for the very young ( The Animals' Lullabye ) with another tranquil bedtime story. His verse poses a guessing game of sorts: "Where's the baby? In the car? / Is she traveling very far? / Sitting there in her own car seat? / Honking her horn on Maple Street?" As such, it chronicles a day's repertoire of baby activities--exploring cupboards, riding in the car, playing in the playpen, bathtime, storytime and, finally, bedtime. The premise may be tried but it's also true, and Paxton's rhymes have a quietly lilting quality. Graham adds interest by introducing a kitten, proposing it as the respondent to all Paxton's questions. Each full spread serves as a sprawling canvas, filled with Graham's uncluttered, lustrous paintings of an orderly world, serene and desirable. Ages 2-up. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.