Mustache Baby (Mustache Baby)

by Bridget Heos (Author) Joy Ang (Illustrator)

Mustache Baby (Mustache Baby)
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Series: Mustache Baby

A picture book about baby Billy, who is born with a mustache, and his parents, who must figure our if it's a Good-Guy mustache, or a Bad-Guy mustache.

When Baby Billy is born with a mustache, his family takes it in stride. They are reassured when he nobly saves the day in imaginary-play sessions as a cowboy or cop and his mustache looks good-guy great. But as time passes, their worst fears are confirmed when little Billy's mustache starts to curl up at the ends in a suspiciously villainous fashion. Sure enough, "Billy's disreputable mustache led him into a life of dreadful crime."

Plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor and cartoonish illustrations make this the perfect baby-shower gift for a mustachioed father-to-be.

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$19.99

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Kirkus

Occasional badness has never been so good.

Publishers Weekly

From mustache parties to Movember, upper lip hair is the accessory du jour, and why should babies be left out of the fun? When Billy is born with a mustache, a helpful nurse tells his folks, "You'll just have to wait and see whether it is a good-guy mustache or a bad-guy mustache." As Billy graduates to toddlerdom, his mustache appears to be a force for good: as a "man of the law" (complete with reflective sunglasses and badge), Billy "stopped speeders... outlawed poker... and caught thieves red-handed," writes Heos (Stronger Than Steel). Never mind that his actions are completely annoying and disruptive to his siblings. When Billy's mustache begins to grow and curl, it leads him into "a life of dreadful crime," requiring jail time (or crib time, anyway) to straighten him out. Ang (I Will Not Read This Book) has a blast portraying Billy as hero, villain, and everything in between (with facial hair worthy of Tom Selleck or Snidely Whiplash, as needed); her digital illustrations have the warmth of acrylic painting, and the book's oddball sense of humor is unflagging. Ages 4-8. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (May)

Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 1--This nonsense picture book is about a baby who is born with a mustache. As Billy grows up, the mustache informs his various identities: cowboy, ringleader, Spanish painter, sword fighter, and man of the law. But then, it grows and curls and becomes a bad-guy mustache. Billy then becomes a cereal criminal, a bank robber, and a cat burglar, and gets thrown in jail. Fortunately, his parents are able to reassure him that everyone has a bad-mustache day. Billy becomes a good guy again and scoots off to play with his new neighbor, a little bearded guy. Digitally rendered illustrations are saturated matte cartoons. For the most part, they mirror the text, although the humor is often in the contradictions; while the narrator claims that "everyone loved having Officer Billy around," for example, his sister and brother glare at him for ruining their play. Quirky, silly fun.--Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Winner of the 2017 Colorado Children's Book Award

"You never know what you'll get in the delivery room, and something isn't quite right with this new baby. . . . Heos's offbeat tale muses on the possibilities, playing off parental hope and panicky nightmares." New York Times Book Review

"[This] book bristles with appealing humor." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

 

Bridget Heos
Bridget Heos is the author of Mustache Baby and Mustache Baby Meets His Match, as well as many nonfiction books for young readers. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband and four children. www.authorbridgetheos.com
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780547773575
Lexile Measure
380
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Clarion Books
Publication date
May 14, 2013
Series
Mustache Baby
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV013040 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | New Baby
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Behavior
Conduct of life
Babies
Infants
Mustaches
Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award
Winner 2014 - 2014
Beehive Awards
Winner 2015 - 2015
Grand Canyon Reader Award
Nominee 2016 - 2016
Nevada Young Readers' Award
Nominee 2016 - 2016

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