REACHING

This tribute to a loving family will undoubtedly resonate with many doting parents.

First Mama, then Daddy, then other besotted relatives “reach” for Baby with lots of love. Cuddling, tickling, hugging, reading and playing punctuate their interactions in a rhyming text that delivers a mood of happiness and security as it asserts how important Baby’s family is. The antepenultimate spread states, “Baby is reaching for everything new,” with spot art depicting him reaching for assorted things. This sets the stage for a satisfying, if rather cloying and adult-centered, conclusion showing Mama and Daddy putting Baby to bed with the assurance that, although “Soon Baby will reach for the moon and the stars… For now you’re still ours!” A mobile of a moon and stars hangs above the crib, asserting Mitchell’s skill at extending text as it echoes the prior page’s night sky. Details like this and the pink stuffed dog (unmentioned by the text) who accompanies Baby throughout the book assure visual interest as the soft watercolors match the text’s gentle tone. A further nice illustrative touch shows readers an extended family that just happens to be multiracial.

Ultimately a book that many new parents will reach for as they revel in their love of baby.