Today I read Irish author-illustrator Mary Murphy’s 2003 board book I Kissed the Baby!
Very nice! Lovely. A nearly perfect example of its kind.
By that I mean, there’s little to no story…but that’s okay because of the target audience. The whole book is a series of exchanges between different animals. (You can see sample pages here.)
The first two animals talk about seeing the baby.
The next two animals talk about feeding the baby.
The next two talk about singing to the baby.
The next two talk about tickling the baby.
The next two talk about kissing the baby–and the final two show the mother duck surging forward to kiss her baby.
The images are simple, but occasionally surprising. (What does it mean for a butterfly to sing to a baby?.) They work for image recognition and to transmit the book’s core emotions: enthusiasm and love.
There’s a nice back and forth rhythm for kids to anticipate, and a joyous shift in rhythm to conclude the book. Together, there’s a lovely message here: everyone is (and should be) so excited about the baby they can’t keep still, and everyone spills over with love toward babies–and should.
