Baggott, Stella. Babies Very First series. Usborne, 2009, $6.99 each:
Baby's Very First Outdoors Book. ISBN 978079452468.
Baby's Very First Toy Book. ISBN 9780794524661.
Baby's Very First Animals Book. ISBN 9780794524654.
Baby's Very First Colors Book. ISBN 9780794524678.
Truly for a young baby, these chubby padded covers hold just ten thick cardboard pages of simple cartoon illustrations paired to a word or two of text. The first three books listed above feature texts of onomatopoeia - sound words such as "honk…honk," or "meow." The final book just has the word for the color listed. The deeply saturated colors of the cartoon illustrations are set on white or black backgrounds with a plaid border. Very developmentally appropriate for babies.

Stockham, Jess. Just Like Us! series. Child's Play, 2008, $7.99 each:
Together! ISBN 9781846431791.
Making Friends! ISBN 9781846431807.
Taking it Easy! ISBN 9781846431814.
Having Fun! ISBN 9781846431784.
Sweet without being cloying, these simple board books with fold-out flaps show animals playing, then show two babies doing the same activity. For example, two dolphins are swimming; open the flap and see two babies swimming. The brief text includes repetition - every time the babies are shown doing an activity they repeat a phrase such as "We are too" or "So can we!" The full color illustrations are lively without being too busy, and resemble crayon drawings. The babies represent various ethnicities in this series that is sure to please.

Scieszka, Jon. Trucktown series. Illus. by David Shannon, Loren Long, and David Gordon. Little, Brown, 2008, $7.99 each:
What a Wreck! ISBN 9781416941774.
Ride Along With Dump Truck Dan! ISBN 9781416941767.
The Trucktown franchise is only a year old but selling a variety of books. As with previous Trucktown books reviewed in the past, these two new entries vary in size, shape, and intended audience. What a Wreck! is a square board book of average size, with some tactile elements like sandpaper embedded into the pages, and two popups. Ride Along with Dump Truck Dan! folds out into a long cardboard strip with a story about a dump truck. It contains stickers for the reader to peel off and apply to the pages. Neither book seems suited to library use, and as always the illustrations resemble the Disney animated film Cars.

Ainsworth, Kimberly. Little Green Books series. Illus. by Michelle Berg. Little Simon, 2008, $9.99 each:
Little Panda. ISBN 9781416961734.
Little Monkey. ISBN 9781416981758.
Although these are lovely, they are made from cloth-covered foam rubber and won't stand up to library usage. But for a gift, these will be a hit. The covers are made of a fleece that is used in baby pajamas, and the inner pages are cotton-covered foam. The illustrations are cartoon style pictures of animals, printed on the cotton, with the text printed along the bottom of the "page." The stories are very brief, describing how panda and monkey play in the trees.

Wilson, Karma. Play Nice, Calico! Illus. by Buket Erdogan. Little Simon, 2008, $7.99, ISBN 9781416919070.
A rhyming text describes a cat playing with her other animal friends. The title is repeated as the tagline on each page, which should engage the toddler audience. The full color paintings have a nice canvas background, and the animals are cute and look realistic. The lesson is obvious but one toddlers need to hear - be nice to your friends and pets.

Grover, Lorie Ann. Hug Hug! Illus. by Rebecca Malone. Little Simon, 2008, $7.99, ISBN 9781416947660.
A very simple text describe parent and baby hug: “Hugs in the snow. Hugs in a row.” The animal pairs are easy to identify with realistic looking koalas, bears, dogs, penguins, giraffes, camels and more, finally ending with mom and baby. The deeply colored paintings focus on the pair with no background distractions.

Wild, Margaret. Kiss Kiss! Illus. by Bridget Strevens-Marzo. Little Simon, 2008, $7.99, ISBN 9781416955153.
Baby hippo runs off to play without kissing his mother goodbye. He hears the repeated “Kiss Kiss” as he passes other jungle animal pairs, until he remembers to go back home to kiss mom goodbye. The repetition in the text and the jungle setting make for a book appropriate for toddlers. The full color illustratrations are clear and sharp.

Zolkower, Edie Stoltz. When It's Purim. Illus. by Barb Bjornson. Kar-Ben, 2009, $5.95, ISBN 9780822589471.
Raccoons and other woodland creatures are dressed in human clothing, and are making hamantaschen in this simple story. Nothing else about Purim is mentioned, so this is better for those who already know about the Jewish holiday and its traditions. Why critters instead of humans?

McBratney, Sam. Let's Play In The Snow. Illus. by Anita Jerum. Candlewick, 2008, $7.99, ISBN 9780763641085.
Father and son nutbrown hare, from Guess How Much I Love You? star in this sturdy board book. They play “I Spy” in the snow. The light pastel watercolors are sky blue with a few twigs, bare trees, and other details that are easy to pick out in the pictures of white snow. A nice spinoff from a bestselling book.

Sharkey, Niamh. I'm a Happy Hugglewug. Candlewick, 2008, $6.99, ISBN 9780763639815.
Hugglewug is a cute, colorful monster. Each spread features him counting, or singing a song, or painting a picture. The text is too long and the pictures feature items that are too small and detailed for babies to be able to discern what is pictured. This would have worked better as a picture book.

Wells, Rosemary. Max's Worm Cake. Grosset & Dunlap, 2009, $4.99, ISBN 9780448450865.
Based on the Nick Jr. TV Show, Max makes a worm cake while sister Ruby plants her garden. The brief story is just right for the toddler audience, almost as good as Wells' original Max board books on which the TV series is based. The illustrations feature photo backgrounds with Well's cartoon bunnies set on top of the backgrounds. An unusually good board book for a TV spinoff.

It's Valentine's Day! Simon Spotlight, 2008, $5.99, ISBN 9781416958628.
Based on the “Blues Clues” TV series, Blues and Sprinkles plan a party to say how much they love their friends. The narrative is too long for a board book, and boring at that, and the pastel colored illustrations resemble the TV show but are bland.

The Wonder Pets Love You! Simon Spotlight, 2008, $5.99, ISBN 9781416964575.
Rhyming couplets describe how the Wonder Pets travel around, telling various animals how much they love them. The Valentine's Day theme is not spelled out but will be evident to adults. The photo collage illustrations show realistic-looking animals dressed in clothing - a duckling, hamster, and turtle. Only for fans of the show.

DePaola, Tomie. Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato: An Irish Folktale. Grosset & Dunlap, 1990/2009, $5.99, ISBN 9780448450902.
Drastically abridged from the original, this contains about half the text. The Irish lilt of the original is missing and we are left with the bare bones story, but it will be useful for a St. Patrick's Day toddler storytime - but use the original for preschool storytime. Jamie is a lazy man, who runs into a leprechaun, but instead of gold takes a seed. The seed grows into a giant potato that the whole town shares. DePaola's colorful illustrations are done in his distinctive style, and depict a green Irish countryside. Generally speaking, folktales and board books are not a good match since the tales need a longer text and more embellishment than a board book can accommodate.

McBratney, Sam. You're All My Favorites. Illus. by Anita Jeram. Candlewick, 2004/2008, $7.99, ISBN 9780763642976.
Although I didn't have the original to compare this to, it appears to be a complete story. Parent bears tell their triplets they are the best baby bears ever. Each bear questions the statement, but the parent reassuringly explains how it is true. Although the text is a little long for a board book, there is repetition, and the delicate pastel pictures focus on the bear family. The message is similar to McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You, about a parent's love, and this will be equally popular.

Cronin, Doreen. Farmer Brown's Barnyard: A Bestselling Board Book Gift Set. Illus. by Betsy Lewin. Little Simon, 2008, $18.99, ISBN 9781416955214.
Three board books are contained in a cardboard barn that will make a great gift but is not suitable for library use. Cronin and Lewin's bestselling picture books about cows that type and a duck that writes are “shrunk” to a hand-held board book size (about the size of a Beatrix Potter book). Each book is page for page the same as the original, just in a smaller size, but all the text and illustrations are included. Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type concerns the negotiations by the cows for better working conditions. Giggle Giggle Quack concerns the farmer's brother who is watching things while Farmer Brown is on vacation. Dooby Dooby Moo is about a talent show at the county fair. All the plots and the jokes seem better suited to older preschoolers and up, so this isn't a great match of format and story.

Submitted by : Penny Peck, San Leandro Public Library

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