Walk On!: A Guide for Babies of All Ages – A Practical and Inspirational Picture Book about First Steps - Hardcover

Frazee, Marla

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152055738 ISBN 13: 9780152055738

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2006

Synopsis

Trying something new is never easy. Like walking, for instance. But aren't you sick of sitting on your bottom day in and day out? Hasn't lying around all the time become a little bit boring? This handy guide, both practical and inspirational, is here to help. With useful tips, common pitfalls, and Marla Frazee's adorable illustrations, this book is perfect for anyone--from a baby to a graduate to a grown-up--who's about to take a scary first step.

About this title

About the Author

MARLA FRAZEE has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, some of which she also wrote. Her picture book A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was named a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the author and illustrator of Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages; Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert; Roller Coaster; and Hush, Little Baby. She is the illustrator of Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox, and more. Marla Frazee lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her website at www.marlafrazee.com.  

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1-In this how-to for little ones, a baby learns to walk for the first time. Frazee gives suggestions like, Get a grip. Pull yourself up. Stand. She notes that it is very common to fall down on the first try and encourages crying if it helps. By the end of the book, the child is taking wobbly and independent steps and the triumphant last lines read, Baby, you are walking! Beautiful. The pencil-and-gouache art has the delightful feel of self-help pamphlets from an earlier era. The baby, looking like a very young Tintin, stands out against the spacious cream-colored backgrounds with monochrome pencil drawings of familiar objects. Frazee captures the body language and facial expressions of this blossoming toddler with knowing precision. This is one of those rare books that speaks to crawling and walking babies who like to look at pictures of creatures like themselves, preschoolers who enjoy stories about what they were like when they were little, and older children and adults who will appreciate the wry humor. These could be the first steps in any milestone, such as sleeping in a big kid's bed or starting school.-Rachel G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Starred Review. Frazee (Roller Coaster) kicks off a hilarious how-to with these trenchant questions: "Is sitting there on your bottom getting boring? Has lying around all the time become entirely unacceptable?" It's a pep talk for those ready to leave crawling behind (and for those who may need a refresher). Her exemplar is an authentically determined Everybaby of indeterminate sex, sporting an enormous polka-dotted diaper, with two dots for eyes and a single curlicue of hair. As the little one tentatively moves towards ambulatory independence, Frazee offers advice ranging from tongue-in-cheek tips (a chair is good to pull up on; a potted cactus is not) to wry Zen wisdom ("Feel the sway, but don't let it tip you over") to cheekily upbeat encouragement (it's okay to cry after the first fall; then check to see "if your diaper is weighing you down.... Fix whatever you can before you start over"). The book is as handsome as it is funny, with page after page of elegantly drafted spot illustrations (one sly visual aside portrays the living room layout as a forbidding, garishly yellow terrain). Of course, much of the humor will fly right by the nine- to 18-month-old crowd, but Frazee has a bigger audience in mind: eager, anxious parents—both expectant and newly anointed—and impatient older siblings. She'll have no trouble winning them over. All ages. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PreS-K. This mock instructional manual--which should be shelved in picture-book fiction, despite its Dewey cataloging--opens with a question: "Are you tired of sitting on your bottom all day long?" Deadpan instruction in walking ensues, with a few lines per page offering a winsome baby reassurance ("It is very common to fall down"), sensible tips ("You will need support"), and Zen-like encouragement ("Look toward where you want to go. Imagine yourself as already there"). Children who admired Frazee's distinctive draftsmanship in Everywhere Babies (2001) and other books will be charmed anew by the tot starring here, though a more diverse array of depicted children may have strengthened the book's appeal to babies themselves, who won't always grasp the sly humor. Other children will be drawn instead by parallels with Mo Willems' Pigeon books, apparent both in the spare, second-person narrative and in the sleek, contemporary design. Try this on the elder siblings of toddlers, who, along with appreciative adults, will giggle over the loving documentation of both the false starts and the triumphant exuberance that mark a child's first steps. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152055738
• ISBN 13: 9780152055738
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Frazee Marla
• Number of pages: 40