A Book of Babies by Il Sung Na (review)

A duck takes a break from its noisy ducklings to guide readers through comparisons of different baby animals in this cheerful celebration of families and infants. The duck encounters babies who have either “lots of brothers and sisters” (a school of fish fry) or none at all (a baby monkey), babies who can walk at birth (a zebra foal) and those who “need a little help” (a lion cub), babies who are carried in a mother’s—or father’s—pouch (kanga joeys and baby seahorses), babies with fur (polar bear cubs), and babies with scales (lizard babies). As nighttime falls, though, all the babies need to go to sleep, even the sleepy ducklings to whom the parent duck now returns. Na’s text is short and sweet, and pint-sized animal lovers will love the parade of various fauna; the cozy ending (in which one of the duck parents sleeps with one eye open to keep an eye on things) will satisfy little ones as well. Painterly textures (swirly spirals scratched through a background of rusts and browns make up the male lion’s mane, for example) provide rich depth to the scenes, and the dynamic mixed-media illustrations are both vibrant and warm. The succinct, rhythmic text and large, inviting illustrations make it an excellent choice for sharing with toddlers and young preschool audiences.