Tickly Toes by Susan Hood (review)

In this chunky board book, Hood expounds on one of life’s indisputable facts: for sheer entertainment value, it’s hard to top a pair of baby feet: “Those ten little piggies!/ Watch how they wiggle./ We count them and kiss them/ and, oh, how you giggle!” They’re great for peek-a-booing in the bathtub, far more attractive than shoes; they curl, they stretch, they’re fine for teething. Bouncy verse is rife with suggestions for parent/child play, from bending pudgy knees to kicking up pillowy heels, and the coup de grâce is, of course, stuffing a whole foot into a gaping mouth. A break or two in the rhythm scheme may send adult readers stumbling, but after multiple readings they’re sure to regain their balance. Barroux’s round-headed, dot-eyed family could be cousins to G. Brian Karas kids, and the streamlined compositions and thickly brushed paint render objects eminently paintable and touchable, though it’s surprising how frequently toes are upstaged by rattles, bath toys, and stuffed animals. No parent needs an instruction manual for how to play with baby feet, but this title gives them an extra excuse to do so.