Hello, baby!
Who are you?

Are you
a monkey
with clever toes?

Perhaps you're
a porcupine,
twitching it's nose.

These are some of the lyrics in Mem Fox's new book, "Hello, Baby!" The concept behind the book are possible answers to the question "who are you?" Different animals are suggested until the end of the book where the final question is asked... "Are you my treasure?" [The answer, of course, is yes.]

The pictures and lyrics give adults and little one's lots of ways to interact (which I love). You can talk about the animals, colors and action. You can yawn like the hippo and wink like the owl. And in general I have high praise for this book. My only hesitation to giving 5-Stars is the art. While some of award winning illustrator Steve Jenkins' paper-work is brilliant. Love the owl. Love the lizard. Some of it is rather dark and muddy for very young children. The monkey's tail, for example, is just a black tail, quite unremarkable. And the porcupine is somehow not cute.

Four Stars. Very good concept book. Good Read-aloud. Would make a lovely gift. There is a lot to recommend this book, I only wish the artwork was more playful.

Pam T~
mom and reviewer for Lunch and  BooksForKids-reviews