Welcome to the World

November 7, 2022
Capturing the joys and trials of caring for a new baby, the collaborators employ winning verse and sweetly rendered portraits of caregivers and infants. “Welcome to the day,” Donaldson (The Gruffalo) begins, as Oxenbury (We’re Going on a Bear Hunt) draws a slender adult in heels cuddling a baby in front of a sunny window. “Welcome to the night,” she continues, as a caregiver in rumpled pajamas holds an infant, gazing out the window at a frosty moon. Early discoveries (“Welcome to your fingers./ Welcome to your toes”), new sights (“the person in the mirror/ who looks a bit like you”), and mischief (“Welcome to the glasses/ that are fun to pull off noses”) are all celebrated in cozy watercolor, gouache, and pencil spreads, which portray people with varying body types and skin tones. As consistently rhymed and metered lines unfurl, the children mature on every spread, growing from infancy to toddlerhood, entering a classroom setting invoking a binary “Welcome to the girls./ Welcome to the boys,” and receiving a welcome “to the earth below/ and to the sky above.// Welcome, little baby./ Welcome to our love.” Ages 4–8.

November 15, 2022
A British picture-book power coupling presents a new baby book replete with necessary messiness. The reality of parenthood is celebrated in tandem with the idealization of new life. Gently rhyming text offers an introduction to its tiny intended audience. "Welcome to the world. / Welcome to the light. / Welcome to the day. / Welcome to the night." Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are invited to experience everything from bouncing on granny knees and listening to granddads playing guitars to ducks, bubbles, bananas, and more. The book is chock-full of funny moments for parents and kids, like the nonchalant parent snagging a bottle while a toddler attempts, unsuccessfully, to leap from the shopping cart. Oxenbury's watercolor and gouache illustrations have lost none of their flair over the years, wonderfully capturing interactions between small children and parents that are sometimes less than picture-perfect. It's a tale with an old-fashioned feeling and a more earnest outing than you might find in, for example, Oliver Jeffers' Here We Are (2017), but it's fun nevertheless. Yet while the cast is racially diverse and male-presenting characters are seen as caregivers as often as female-presenting ones, the spread saying, "Welcome to the girls. / Welcome to the boys," with its emphasis on the gender binary, may limit the title's appeal. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A pleasant throwback, perhaps in more ways than one, to picture books of bygone days. (Picture book. 2-4)

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Starred review from February 1, 2023

Baby-Toddler-This joyful celebration of the baby and toddler years feels like a modern classic. Donaldson's rhyming couplets welcome babies to the small moments and sensory experiences that will define their world, while Oxenbury's gentle illustrations add moments of poignancy and humor. A diverse group of little ones is portrayed, with loving adults representing mothers and fathers, grandparents, and teachers. Each vignette narrows in on the elements babies are likely to notice. A baby nursing, pictured grabbing the mother's necklace, is told, "Welcome to your mommy. Welcome to your feeds. Welcome to the earrings and the buttons and the beads." This focus on the child's perspective is the inspired conceit and beating heart of the book. It honors the lived experiences of children while simultaneously adding a meditative element, cherishing the small and transitory moments of life. Joy pulses through the entire work, while elements in the illustrations recognize the exhausting work of parenthood with good humor: a dad up at night with his baby is rumpled; a mom juggles everything, including her baby in the rain; another dad calmly grabs a wine-shaped bottle off a grocery shelf while his toddler is nearly vaulting out of the shopping cart. A spread portraying toddlers and a teacher at a preschool or daycare with the text, "Welcome to the girls. Welcome to the boys," may put off families breaking away from the gender binary. VERDICT Likely to become an instant classic and a favorite for families to snuggle up and read together, this charming picture book is recommended for first purchase.-Elizabeth Lovsin

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 1 *Starred Review* Joyful rhyming couplets and heartwarming illustrations usher new babies into their families, communities, and the world. "Welcome to the world. / Welcome to the light. / Welcome to the day. / Welcome to the night" begins Donaldson's uplifting text, which introduces infants to activities any baby would be lucky to experience. Starting with "Welcome," verses reveal animals, trees, colors, songs, swings, bus rides, making ""music"" on pots and pans, and blowing bubbles--just a few of the myriad components that create delightful activities for very young children. Scenes featuring grandparents, a teacher, a storyteller, birthday parties, picnics, and preschool rooms show animated babies enthusiastically interacting with people other than their parents. Oxenbury's signature softly hued illustrations using pencil, watercolor, and gouache are beautifully rendered and will generate emotional responses from readers of all ages. Full-page illustrations are interspersed with two vignettes to a page and reveal ideal babyhoods filled with a multitude of learning experiences. The children and adults depicted represent a variety of ethnicities and include blended families. The author-illustrator team offers a narrative of cheerful babies who are safe, secure, and clearly loved, the perfect gift for new and expectant parents.

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