Everywhere Babies

From Barnes & Noble

"Every day, everywhere, babies are born -- fat babies, thin babies, small babies, tall babies, winter and spring babies, summer and fall babies...." And so begins this exuberant celebration of little ones -- and all the wonderful things they do. From the toys and games they enjoy to the friends they make to the way they're carried and the way they crawl, Everywhere Babies chronicles how different each baby is -- and how delightful they all are. With an irresistible rhyming text and warm watercolor illustrations, here is a delightful tribute to babies everywhere -- and to the people who love them.

From the Publisher

"Warm, funny, generous, this is a book that belongs in every library, and every lap."—The Horn Book (starred review)

"The text and pictures make beautiful music together, and like babies themselves, this composition is irresistible."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Should be in every preschool collection."—School Library Journal (starred review)
"A joyful ode to the everyday miracle of babies."—The New York Times Book Review

Publishers Weekly

With its rounded corners and its cast of emotive infants and loving, diverse parents, Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, illus. by Marla Frazee, will quickly become a nursery staple. PW called it "a charming paean to the adoration (and accessories) that families lavish on their offspring." Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

"Every day, everywhere, babies are born," writes Meyers (Hello Jenny), as Frazee (The Seven Silly Eaters) presents the first in a series of wry, elegant watercolor vignettes: a row of multiracial, swaddled newborns whose expressions range from "How did I get here?" to utter boredom. The pages that follow prove that ministering to babies is all-pervasive as well. "Every day, everywhere," as each spread announces in hand-lettered display type, babies are either collecting kisses, getting schlepped, exhausting their parents (a state that Frazee portrays with knowing and hilarious precision), toddling or growing. Rhyming text in smaller type elaborates on each theme: e.g., to "Every day, everywhere, babies are carried " Meyers adds, "in backpacks, in front packs, in slings, and in strollers, in car seats, and bike seats, and on Daddy's shoulders." As Meyers builds to the expected coda (babies being "loved for trying so hard, for traveling so far, for being so wonderful... just as they are!"), it's Frazee's canny wit that tips the work away from sentimentality to evoke a wide range of emotions. A charming paean to the adoration (and accessories) that families lavish on their offspring. Ages 2-5. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Sheilah Egan

"Every day, everywhere, babies are ...born; kissed; dressed; fed; rocked; and carried" is the refrain for the first half of this absolutely adorable book about little ones and their families. The second half is devoted to the things that all babies do and experience as they explore this world of ours. "Every day, everywhere, babies make ...noise, like toys, play games, make friends, are crawling, and growing." "Every day, everywhere, babies are loved." The refrain words are in a larger font at the top of each page, and the rhyming text flows across, under, and through the multitude of families shown with their little ones. The double spread for the "crawling" page shows the adults gathered round a huge pile of gym mats while the babies go "forward and backward, on bottoms and knees, upstairs and downstairs, wherever they please." The detailed pictures support the text with strikingly loving interactions of grown-ups and children. The wide variety of faces and relationships fosters greater understanding that families are made up of people who love one another. Needless to say families expecting a new addition to their family will love this fabulous look at babies, as well as teachers who are presenting the "family" unit at school. The expressions on all of the faces are simply perfect for the emotion called for by the text. This is a wonderful book for discussing how alike all people are, and for observing some of the differences that make us individuals.

School Library Journal

PreS-Young listeners will appreciate this gentle rhyme that portrays babies with their families and friends being drawn into everyday activities. The lilting text recites the eating, sleeping, and leisure habits of a winsome cast of multicultural tykes, but, most of all, it impresses on readers how much they are loved. Expressive, animated pencil-and-watercolor paintings depict a full range of infant motions and emotions that bring this ensemble to life. The clear double-page spreads usually contain one large or several smaller scenes against lots of white space. The facial expressions in several scenes are particularly captivating and endearing. This delightful homage to the youngest among us should be a hit at toddler storytimes, and the book will be great for individual sharing because there is a certain amount of very basic seek-and-find potential fun to be had in poring over the illustrations. Everywhere Babies should be in every preschool collection.-Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Child Magazine

A Child Magazine Best Book of 2001 Pick

True to the title, babies of all sizes and colors spill over the pages of this high-spirited book. Jaunty rhymes chronicle babies' busy lives -- eating and crawling, at sleep and at play -- and little ones will love seeing themselves reflected in the soft, expressive watercolors.

Kirkus Reviews

Meyers and Frazee play a happy, well-tuned concerto on every reader's genetically preprogrammed heartstrings with this long parade of babies: swaddled, sleepy, bright-eyed, screaming with joy and/or rage, being fed, nuzzled, carried, and generally loved by a parental cadre that, unobtrusively, will raise no diversity issues. Frazee (Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild, 2000, etc.) is even better at depicting babies than Jan Ormerod (if that's possible), capturing in dozens of stubby figures everything from those funny-looking tufts of hair topping rounded or lumpy-looking heads to the utter intensity with which babies express their feelings or explore the bright world around them. Meyers's rhymed captions carry the message that every day, everywhere, babies are born, kissed, dressed, played with, and nurtured: everywhere they make noise, like toys-and, when the time comes, turn into toddlers. The text and pictures make beautiful music together, and like babies themselves, this composition is irresistible. (Picture book. 4-8)