BABIES

A satisfying introduction to babies from birth to toddler that explores how they grow, what they see and hear, why they look like their parents and more. From the Jump Into Science series, it’s especially useful for families expecting a new baby. The brief text provides a surprising amount of detail: “A baby who is only ten days old can already tell the difference between his mother’s smell and someone else’s.” And newborns can’t see colors. “So newborns like to look at black-and-white pictures and toys.” The author of a number of Let’s-Read-And-Find-Out Science titles closes by inviting the young reader to become a “baby scientist,” observing the infant and trying some simple experiments. For example, “Open and close your hand. See if the baby imitates you.” Cheerful pastel illustrations show baby and family with identical button noses, round ping-pong eyes and a mop of curly brown hair, often framed in colored boarders decorated with baby paraphernalia. Upbeat and fun from beginning to end as the author concludes: “Bye-bye, baby! Hello toddler.” (Nonfiction. 4-8)