Welcome to the World

Capturing the joys and trials of caring for a new baby, the collaborators employ winning verse and sweetly rendered portraits of caregivers and infants. "Welcome to the day," Donaldson (The Gruffalo) begins, as Oxenbury (We're Going on a Bear Hunt) draws a slender adult in heels cuddling a baby in front of a sunny window. "Welcome to the night," she continues, as a caregiver in rumpled pajamas holds an infant, gazing out the window at a frosty moon. Early discoveries ("Welcome to your fingers./ Welcome to your toes"), new sights ("the person in the mirror/ who looks a bit like you"), and mischief ("Welcome to the glasses/ that are fun to pull off noses") are all celebrated in cozy watercolor, gouache, and pencil spreads, which portray people with varying body types and skin tones. As consistently rhymed and metered lines unfurl, the children mature on every spread, growing from infancy to toddlerhood, entering a classroom setting invoking a binary "Welcome to the girls./ Welcome to the boys," and receiving a welcome "to the earth below/ and to the sky above.// Welcome, little baby./ Welcome to our love." Ages 4-8. (Jan.)

Baby-Toddler--This joyful celebration of the baby and toddler years feels like a modern classic. Donaldson's rhyming couplets welcome babies to the small moments and sensory experiences that will define their world, while Oxenbury's gentle illustrations add moments of poignancy and humor. A diverse group of little ones is portrayed, with loving adults representing mothers and fathers, grandparents, and teachers. Each vignette narrows in on the elements babies are likely to notice. A baby nursing, pictured grabbing the mother's necklace, is told, "Welcome to your mommy. Welcome to your feeds. Welcome to the earrings and the buttons and the beads." This focus on the child's perspective is the inspired conceit and beating heart of the book. It honors the lived experiences of children while simultaneously adding a meditative element, cherishing the small and transitory moments of life. Joy pulses through the entire work, while elements in the illustrations recognize the exhausting work of parenthood with good humor: a dad up at night with his baby is rumpled; a mom juggles everything, including her baby in the rain; another dad calmly grabs a wine-shaped bottle off a grocery shelf while his toddler is nearly vaulting out of the shopping cart. A spread portraying toddlers and a teacher at a preschool or daycare with the text, "Welcome to the girls. Welcome to the boys," may put off families breaking away from the gender binary. VERDICT Likely to become an instant classic and a favorite for families to snuggle up and read together, this charming picture book is recommended for first purchase.--Elizabeth Lovsin