Julia Donaldson (text) Rebecca Cobb (illus.), It’s a Little Baby, Macmillan, 23 Feb 2016, 12pp., $14.99 (hbk/boardbook), ISBN 9781447251811
It’s a Little Baby is a lift-the-flap boardbook for infants from the author of The Gruffalo. Typical of the genre, the highly repetitive simple text speaks directly to its readers. A refrain – Somebody’s hiding. I wonder who – opens each spread and invites readers to open the flap and discover who it is. In fact, each time it is a baby hiding behind such various concealments as a pile of laundry washing, a patch of grass, a sandcastle, an assortment of grocery bags. Another refrain follows, with various pronouns and verbs – It’s a baby and he’s pointing at you – and an invitation to mimic the baby’s action. In sum, the book is focused on the five actions of pointing, waving, peeping, clapping and dancing. All five verses are collected at the end of the book, with soft, gentle illustration depicting the actions, segueing the sing-along reading into actual play. Altogether a charming, stimulating book.
Reviewed by Kevin Steinberger
