Baby day /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

It's a busy day for baby in this darling, cheeky, charming picture book celebrating the joy and chaos of a baby-filled day!

Today is baby's birthday. Happy baby!
Here come baby's friends. Hello!
Shy baby.
Friendly baby.
Sunny baby. Hat on, baby!
Strong baby.
Smiley baby.
Lazy baby. Wake up, baby!
Who else will we meet?

Now everyone together... Smile, babies!

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

It's a baby's first birthday, and a parade of well-wishing parents and toddlers are gathering for an informal outdoor celebration. As the adults quickly recede into the background (they occasionally appear as arms and hands distributing a sun hat or ice cream), the littlest guests display a medley of moods, chronicled in succinct adjective-noun pairs by the team behind Hattie Helps Out. "Shy baby" regards a big, grey-spotted dog (a vivid character in its own right) with some trepidation, while "friendly baby" eagerly pets the hound's nose; "twin babies" watch in fascination as a "brave baby" slides down the slide. The kids lean against each other while licking ice cream cones, gather around for cake and for an adorably chaotic group photo, and then moods rapidly deteriorate ("cranky baby," "tired baby"). Everyone heads home, and the birthday baby is soon fast asleep. Blackwood's line work and watercolors, set against crisp white backgrounds, offer a sketchbook immediacy that places readers in the thick of the action; her small subjects' chubby bodies are as expressive as their faces. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Baby-Toddler-A baby's first birthday party sets the stage for introducing the many emotions children express through their faces and body language as they gather to celebrate. Rendered in watercolor, the soft lines are an excellent pairing with the deceptively simple and repetitive text. None of the tykes are named, but are simply all referred to as "baby." For example, one spread shows a "fussy baby" tilting her head away from proffered food from another child with the comment "Come on, baby, just try it" while a dog swipes potato chips off the table. Later on, when a line of children are eating ice cream cones and one scoop falls, this same dog gobbles it up, leading to a spread of "poor baby!" as the youngster cries. Although the text is spare, it beautifully carries the story of a baby's first birthday while also expressing the varied feelings and reactions children are likely to experience. VERDICT A clear winner for toddlers and their parents, this is also a lovely addition for read-alouds. Highly recommended.-Rachel Zuffa, Case High School, Racine, WI © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

A happy baby wakes up on his or her first birthday. Later, many babies, children, and parents (to say nothing of the dog) gather for an outdoor celebration featuring playtime, ice cream, and birthday cake. The text briefly describes the babies based on their actions at the moment, such as Bossy baby, Friendly baby, Neat baby, and Busy baby. And that works just fine because, for other young children, the babies' and toddlers' actions and interactions will be the most riveting part of this cheerful picture book. The babies crawl, climb, and devour ice cream cones (sometimes with help from the dog). After cake is served, the tone shifts to Wriggly baby. Cranky baby. Tired baby. Created with shaded pencil drawings, watercolors, and digital elements, the artwork perfectly captures the mood of the day as it shifts from happy anticipation and engagement to a fractious mood, reflected in the characters' expressions and body language. With a diverse cast of endearing babies and their parents, this Australian picture book will have broad appeal among young children.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2019 Booklist

Horn Book Review

In this Australian import, its a babys first birthday, and theres going to be a party. Eight of babys friends arrive (at what appears to be a park), along with their families. A spare, lilting textShy baby. / Friendly baby. / Sunny baby. / Hat on, baby!introduces and describes the babies; they and the texts sketched-in scenarios are fleshed out with humor and warmth by the pencil-and-watercolor-wash illustrations. Watch out, baby! sees a strong baby pushing another one on a riding toystraight toward a pond. Oh nopoor baby! shows the birthday babys ice cream falling off the cone and being slurped up by a dog. As the party progresses, cheerful baby-sized mayhem is the order of the day, from playground play to some trouble sharing to enjoying birthday cake, culminating with a pile of babies all being told to say cheese for the camera (and all ignoring the directive). As for the birthday baby, the day ends with a bath, bedtime, and sweet dreams, baby. Throughout, the nine little ones can be distinguished through distinctive clothing, hair, coloring, etc.; a few seem to be intentionally gendered (including the strong baby; you go, girl), but most are indeterminate. The inviting, scribbly illustrations on double-page spreads featuring generous white space allow for lots of audience engagement. A sweet but realistic portrayal of a first-birthday celebration. martha v. Parravano March/April 2019 p 59(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

It's a first birthday celebration for baby, and lots of baby friends join in the festivities.The book opens on baby waiting expectantly to be lifted from the crib and progresses through all of the birthday fun, showing friends arriving, cake, and ice cream before closing with bathtime, snuggles, and sleep. Godwin and Bell's text focuses on the birthday baby and friends, and the story is told almost entirely through descriptions of the babies and Blackwood's illustrations of them. "Lazy baby" describes a sleeping friend, "brave baby" goes down the slide head first, and "sad baby" has just lost dessert to the dog. No pronouns are ever used to describe the babies, and while some wear dresses or tutus, there is no specific gender attached to any particular illustrationa nice touch, whether intentional or not. Some tots are browner than others (the protagonist presents white), and a pair of twins are cued as black via their hairstyles. Blackwood's illustrations nevertheless are lovely, with her customary delicately energetic line and a palette of mostly primary red, yellow, and blue. Adult readers will appreciate the two-page spread that so accurately depicts what it's like trying to take a photo of a group of wiggly little ones. Overall, this is a nice approach to the classic first-birthday book, offering a sense of play and nuance in both the brief text and the lovely illustrations.A refreshing first-birthday book, with subtleties for adult readers and details for little ones. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Davina Bell is an Australian writer, editor and literary consultant. She worked as an editor at Penguin Australia for six years. Her first novels were in of the Australian Girls series which includes Meet Alice, Alice and the Apple Blossom Fair, Alice of Peppermint Grove and Peacetime for Alice. The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade (illustrated by Allison Colpoys) is her first picture book. It won of the 2016 Australian Book Industry Awards Small publishers' children's book of the year and the 2016 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award, Crichton Award for New Illustrators. She also wrote Hattie Helps Out (co-written with Jane Godwin and Freya Blackwood), Oh, Albert (co-written with Sara Acton), A Thousand Silver Ghosts (a short story included in the anthology, Where the Shoreline Used to Be), and Under the Love Umbrella.

(Bowker Author Biography)