Media Mix: KC Baby Summer 2021
Blankie, a Narwhal and Jelly Board Book
Written and illustrated by Ben Clanton
A truly delightful book for babies and toddlers! Narwhal, the unicorn of the sea, and Jelly are at it again. This time, Narwhal surprises Jelly with an oversized blanket! The two then set off to discover all the things that can be done with a giant blankie.
They use it as a flag, a dress, a ghost and, of course, a cape. But the thing Narwhal likes best about his new blankie is that it’s big enough to share with his best friend!
This is a great book to encourage imagination and play. Readers and babies are sure to enjoy using their own blankies in new adventures. The rhyming text is clever, and the simple, colorful illustrations are cute. Don’t miss out on the other Narwhal and Jelly board books by New York Times best-selling author/illustrator Ben Clanton.
Baby Loves Coding!
Written by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Irene Chan
Baby has three train cars. One is blue, one is green, and one is yellow. But where is the red one? It’s across the room in the toy box, so Baby must maneuver through the room to retrieve the red car. In doing so, Baby travels from the train track to the toy box and back. The concept of algorithm is introduced and described as the pattern Baby took to get the red train car back to the train.
The author explains that a tiny computer allows the train to follow an algorithm and that a programmer tells the computer what to do. Coding is introduced as the language the programmer writes to communicate with the computer.
“The goal of the Baby Loves Science books is to introduce STEM topics in a developmentally appropriate way,” says author Ruth Spiro.
Black and White, Blanco y Negro
Written by Meritxell Marti and illustrated by Xavier Salomo
Babies love books illustrated in black and white. A wonderful new addition to this genre is Black and White, Blanco y Negro, which was first published in Catalan and Spanish.
This charming book tells a story by cleverly allowing the reader to catch just a glimpse of the upcoming portion of the story on each page.
On the first page, for example, is an image of a full moon, “Moon – Luna (LOON-ah)” and a portion of an owl’s wing. When you turn the page, you see the owl, “Owl – Buho (BOO-oh)” and a tiny bit of a castle.
The story continues this way with high contrast black and white illustrations and one word per two-page spread, translated into Spanish. This is a great opportunity to begin introducing a second language into a child’s day.
Sandy Foster lives in Grain Valley and is a Bookstagrammer (@picturebookapotamus), freelance writer and mother of two. You can find children's book reviews and resources at HappyBeingMom.com.