HICKORY RIDGE READER: Starting a library for the new baby

By WILMA SNYDER/Correspondent

Greetings from Hickory Ridge. I went to my niece’s baby shower over the weekend. Each and every guest brought a book, or books, to start a library for the baby who is expected in just five weeks.
What a neat idea! In addition to all of the receiving blankets, onesies, monitors, bath supplies and all the other hundred and one necessary items for the new baby, this baby will have wonderful books to read from the very beginning. This is an idea whose time has come. Note to everyone who is planning a baby shower.
If the new baby has an older brother or sister, here is the perfect book to share during the long waiting time. “What’s Inside Your Tummy, Mommy?” is a nine-month guide to help answer all those questions from the toddler in your house. Just enough information and wonderful pictures help to set the stage for a big and exciting change in the life of a family.
Cynthia Rylant and artist Diane Goode have teamed up to write “Baby Face: A Book of Love for Baby.” The treasured moments in a baby’s life are celebrated in beautiful verses, perfect for reading aloud. Rylant and Goode have collaborated on “Alligator Boy” and Caldecott Honor Book, “When I Was Young in the Mountains.”
Moving from the crib to a bigger bed is an important rite of passage which is sometimes difficult. “Your Own Big Bed” approaches this milestone from the perspective of growing.
Both the text and the pictures are very reassuring and encouraging. Alison McGhee’s “Bye-bye, Crib” features a toddler who is trying to get up the courage to move into his big bed. Lively illustrations by Ross MacDonald entertain and advance the story.
To follow up her wonderful “Someday,” Alison McGhee offers “Little Boy” which reminds us that no matter how many toys a child might have, his favorite might be a big cardboard box. A child might be playing with a rock, a doll, a fallen log, a toy truck, but the fun of play lies in a fertile imagination.
Rachel Isadora’s “Uh-oh!” shows that in a toddler’s world, almost any activity can result in an “uh-oh.” Charlotte Voake, in “Hello, Twins,” shows how twins, Charlotte and Simon, couldn’t be more different. But no matter how different, they like each other just as they are. Good reading.
“What’s Inside Your Tummy, Mommy?” Abby Cocovini. Henry Holt. 2007
“Baby Face: A Book of Love for Baby.” Cynthia Rylant. Illustrated by Diane Goode. Simon & Schuster. 2008.
“Your Own Big Bed.” Rita M. Bergstein. Pictures by Susan Kathleen Hartung. Viking/Penguin. 2008.
“Bye-bye, Crib.” Alison McGhee. Illustrated by Ross MacDonald. Simon & Schuster. 2008.
“Little Boy.” Alison McGhee. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Atheneum/Simon & Schuster. 2008.
“Uh-oh!” Rachel Isadora. Harcourt. 2008.
“Hello, Twins.” Charlotte Voake. Candlewick. 2006.