Hello Baby!

There are all kinds of babies in the world. There are funny looking monkeys, porcupines that twitch their noses, sleepy leopards, elephants sticking their noses in the air, hairy warthogs, quiet, scary crocodiles, thirsty zebras and winking owls. Can you think of some other baby animals you have seen? "Are you an eagle exploring the skies? Perhaps you're a gecko with rolling eyes. Are you a lion with dust on its paws? Perhaps you're a hippo with yawning jaws." The collage animals in this book are amazingly well done. Although this type of illustration is not for all adults, it will have great appeal to the little ones. The rhyming text is soothing and this story would make an excellent cuddle up bedtime story. Can you guess who the most treasured baby of all would be?

A great children's book!!! This book is fun to read and is funny. One of my favorite read aloud bedtime stories. A great addition to a child's library!

Hello Baby! by Mem Fox is a simple story, but the book features beautiful "cut-out" illustrations. The cut-out gives the affect of making the animals and backgrounds appear textured, which adds interest. This is perfect book for young children under 3 who get easily bored with "too many words" and are trying to flip the page before you've finished reading. Let's face, they want a nice picture to point out and talk about - and this book delivers. Mem Fox is a best-selling author (Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes) and her new book does not disappoint for toddlers.

"Hello Baby" written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Steve Jenkins is a pitch perfect example of what makes a great toddler age childrens book. The bold, textured, 3-D like, collage illustrations seem to just jump right off the page in this charming tale of babies of all kinds, shapes and sizes. The simple, straightforward text of the story lends itself to the younger audience as well as the story being enjoyable to the adult who by all accounts is more than likely asked to read this book over and over and over... While the story itself is a positive reinforcement for children to know that their parents or caregivers love and treasure them and that they are wanted and loved it's the artwork in this book that is the real star! I would recommend this book to any new parent or parents with toddlers. A pleasant, postive story with fabulous illustrations! Happy Reading!

With a fun, fast, easy-to-read meter and well-crafted, artistic illustrations, Hello Baby quickly became one of my (2 1/2 year old) daughter's favorites. Mem Fox is no stranger to toddler favorites, with longtime bestsellers "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" and "Time for Bed" to her credit. This title, like her others, is best geared for the very youngsters. There are a handful of words per page, and chances are this new favorite will be memorized by your little one long before she can read it. Likewise, author/illustrator Steve Jenkins' fun and crafty art style has graced a number of award-nominated books, including Caldecott Honoree "What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?". Though sometimes compared to Eric Carle, Jenkins' work is more sophisticated in its detail, and less colorful in its palette. This particular work appears to have been done in mixed media (heavy on papercuts and augmented with leather, fur, and other materials) as opposed to Carle's simpler oil-painting style. The result for this book is gorgeous, huge pictures that are stunning in their depth and texture. With their talents combined, the result is toddler-magic (okay, I'll admit I'm a fan, too)!