Book Description
for Guess the Baby by Simon French and Donna Rawlins
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
When Sam brings his baby brother to school for Show and Tell, he highlights the baby's pertinent traits for his classmates: He has a green carriage, he eats mushy baby food... and sometimes his diapers are really yucky. The sharing session leads to a discussion about how everyone was once a baby, and the children bring their own baby photos to school. Mr. Judd, the teacher, posts the photos, and at first all the babies look alike. A lot of them had no teeth to smile with, and some of them had no hair. But closer inspection singles out Jack, because of his curly hair, and another baby has Sacha's unique smile. Mara is recognized by her orange hair, and Anika by her large, dark eyes. Mr. Judd provides pertinent clues to help the class identify a few of the harder photos, but one picture stumps everyone. At last Mr. Judd gives a tip: This baby grew up to be very handsome. And very clever. But even though this baby is very grown up, he's still at school. The class catches on, and realizes that even their very adult teacher was once a baby. Amusing illustrations showing the baby Mr. Judd (easily identifiable because of his debonair black mustache!) in a highchair, drawing on walls, and in need of a diaper change, capture the amazement young children often feel when they realize their grown‑ups were once young, too. (Ages 3‑5)
CCBC Choices 2003 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2003. Used with permission.