Everywhere Babies

I admit it: The only reason I read this picture book was because it was banned in Florida. I had to see for myself what provoked the usual gang of idiots (forgive me, I should never compare them to the talented crew at Mad Magazine) to ban it.

I’m not sure why Walton County, Florida, banned this book. It’s a wonderful book, showing babies of every shade and race and size doing baby things: being kissed and cuddled by besotted relatives, being dressed, being fed, going out, playing, crawling, toddling, crying, cooing, giggling, babbling — well, you get it. In one small picture, a woman is discreetly nursing her baby. Was it that? In another, a baby’s being changed. No more is shown than in a diaper commercial. Was it that? It’s show more hard to discern what will set off a QAnon tyrant.

Or was it the final line that dismayed the censors? “Every day, everywhere, babies are loved … for trying so hard, for traveling so far, for being so wonderful … just as they are!” Because, God forbid, that parents allow their children to be themselves.

I want to thank the theocrats for bringing this wonderful picture book to my attention. The whimsical illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Marla Frazee will bring a huge smile to any reader and their babies — whatever their age (my youngest baby soon turns 29). And you can judge how charming the sing-song prose by Susan Meyers is for yourself. Highly recommended. Buy a copy to send to someone in Florida. show less

It starts "Everyday, everywhere, babies are born" and the illustrations show maybe 10 different newborn infants all lined up, each unique and expressive. Then we watch as the babies get rocked, get held, eat, crawl, walk, play and so on. Each page the babies are little older, and the last page shows a 1st birthday celebration

Both the words and the illustrations are wonderful and largely because of the details. The young child gets a nice summary of all the different things babies do and the variety of ways they do it. The text is easy to memorize. And the illustrations are intimate with charming modern touches (published 2004). And it captures so much. Mom is found standing in front of window holding a baby, with tired eyes looking out show more at the night. Parents fall asleep rocking babies, moms breastfeed, parents and grand parents wear baby björns, take babies to mall play areas, play with them etc.

This is one of our favorites, and for a time (around when my son was born) my 2-year-old daughter had us read this to her almost every night. show less

A celebration of babies (and their families), this picture-book is absolutely adorable, featuring a simple text from Susan Meyers that will keep younger children entertained, and delightful pencil and watercolor illustrations from Marla Frazee - best known for her work on the Caldecott Honor title, All the World. There isn't much of a story here, just a simple "list" of activities in which babies engage. Every page begins: "Every day, everywhere, babies are..." and continues with an exploration of the happenings which make up a baby's life, from bathing to eating.

I picked up Everywhere Babies primarily because I enjoyed Marla Frazee's illustrations so much in All the World, and wanted to see more of her work. I was not disappointed! The show more babies here are diverse, both in terms of race and ethnicity, and in terms of the families in which they live - I spied a few same sex couples, some multiracial couples, and parents of all shapes and sizes - and while I agree that it would have been nice for the book to have more of an international feeling (something raised by other reviewers), I also think it's perfectly acceptable for an American children's book to have an American focus. Leaving that issue aside, this is just a charming title, highly recommended to anyone looking for entertaining books for the infant set, or to fans of Marla Frazee. show less

This book is one of my top choices for infants, and it's simply a celebration of babies. It seems like a good book for vocabulary in terms of objects and actions in a baby's life, but also for some of the more abstract words, like "on," "in," "with," and "for." The repetition and rhyme make it easy to read and fun for parents.

Recommended age: 0-2 years

Writing style: Each page starts with the text: "Every day, everywhere, babies." Then, based on this headline, a series of rhyming texts goes into more detail.

Lexile range (unofficial): 610L - 800L
Decoding difficulty: 4/5
Vocabulary difficulty: 3/5
Sentences difficulty: 5/5
Patterns difficulty: 3/5

Illustration style: Very detailed, realistic drawings. These details are fascinating because it show more allows a parent to stop on a page and point to explain other things they see, further enhancing language.

Reality-based? Yes. The book follows a baby's growth over the first year of their life, from rocking and feeding to playing games and walking. show less

So many babies! So much personality! So diverse! Such lovely language! Having two lines of content is genius. The primary line can go by fast for a page-flipping kid, and the secondary line works really well for calmer times and is set up to allow discussing particular pictures with each phrase.

I picked up this book for my niece because I had seen it on lists for LGBTQ inclusive children's books. While the illustrations are not as large in the board book format, they still are rather wonderful. Representation of all different types of families and people of color. So great. It also has such a fun rhyme to it and I just love reading it to my niece over and over. She really likes looking at all the babies too.

The board book edition was an LFL find and I judge it as *not* for babies (too many details in the pictures, too long, too much to process). A full-size edition would be perfect for an older sibling, though. (Though, as other readers have said, 'everywhere' should have been more literally addressed.)