Day 215: The Day the Babies Crawled Away

The first time we saw this book at the library, we took it home based on the title alone.  My son thought the idea of babies running away was hilarious, and given how much we love one of Rathmann's other books, Goodnight Gorilla, we figured it was a safe bet.  We read it several times once we got home and were not disappointed.  It was silly and fun, and it I knew I wanted to feature it here on the blog.  Alas, as so often happens, the library due date came before I had a chance to write about it, so I added the title to my running list of books we need to find again.

Last week, we borrowed it from my sister in law, who had gotten some of her daughter's old books out for my kids to read while we were at their house.  My son was excited to read it again, and my daughter, now 3 and old enough to appreciate it, has asked to read it no fewer than four times a day ever since.  Needless to say, its time has come!

The Day the Babies Crawled Away is a delightful little story that my whole family loves.  While grown ups are busy having a pie eating contest at the fair, their curious little babies crawl away!  They are immediately followed by the hero of the story, a little boy in a fireman's hat, who keeps them safe as they chase butterflies, explore the forest, crawl through caves, and chase frogs through bogs.  The babies find themselves in some rather precarious situations along the way, but the little boy is always there to save the day!

The rhyme scheme of the story makes it fun to read aloud, though the tempo and meter changes sometimes, so it's not as perfectly fluent a read as some stories.  That certainly doesn't seem to affect my kids' enjoyment of the story, however.  What really makes this book for me are the illustrations!  As you can see from looking at the book cover above, the illustrations are done in a unique, silhouette style.  I absolutely love the way the colors in the sky change behind the black silhouettes throughout the day, with the sunset and fireworks pages being my favorites.  There is an incredible amount of detail in the illustrations, as well, from the tiny caterpillar who follows our hero to my children's favorite:  the baby who is always hanging upside down!  My kids and I have enjoyed discovering new little details each time we read the story, and I love seeing what they notice on their own.

The silly nature of the story and the subtle intricacies of the illustrations make this a fabulous little story.  I have a feeling this will be a frequent request of my daughter's for a while, so I'm grateful it's on loan from family and not the library.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Day 52: Goodnight Gorilla

While we're on the topic of great zoo books, I thought now would be a good time to feature one of our other favorites, Goodnight Gorilla.  It's not strictly a wordless picture book, but aside from the zookeeper saying "Goodnight" to his animal friends, it is up to the reader to tell the rest of the story.  The pictures, of course, do the job all on their own -- and an amazing one, at that -- but I always love seeing what my son thinks the characters are saying, from the sneaky gorilla who steals the zookeeper's keys to the zookeeper's wife who wakes to find her bedroom full of animals.  Each time we read it, we find different details in the pictures that we love, too:  the toys in the animals' cages, the photos on the wall, the mouse carrying the gorilla's banana.  And of course, we just love the silly ending.  For whatever reason, it took me a while to warm up to the idea of wordless picture books, but I love them now.  I think it just required a conscious shift in my reading perspective from that of an adult to that of a parent.  As adult readers, I think it's easy to forget that our children aren't focused on the words like we are; they are busy studying the pictures.  That's what makes a book like this one so fun.   See what your child notices in the illustrations, and better yet, have her tell you the story.  Chances are, she'll find things you never noticed on your own.