So Much

Mom and baby are home alone when--DING DONG!--Auntie and then Uncle and Nannie and Gran-Gran and the cousins come to visit. And they all want to hug and kiss and squeeze and eat the baby right up--because everybody loves the baby SO MUCH! With Helen Oxenbury lending her characteristic warmth and humor to a most exuberant family party, Trish Cooke's rhythmic, cumulative story captures the joy of being the baby in a large extended family--a baby who knows that he is absolutely, utterly adored.

PreSchool-Grade 1?A toddler and his mother are perched on a couch, doing nothing really, when "DING DONG!" the doorbell rings, and in comes Auntie Bibba, arms out wide, wanting to squeeze the baby "SO MUCH!" After the three of them settle in, Uncle Didi arrives wanting to kiss the baby "SO MUCH!" By the end of this cumulative tale, told in a sort of Caribbean patois, the urban dwelling is filled with loving family waiting for the child's father's surprise party to begin. One young cousin expresses his affection for the baby by wanting to "fight" him so much, but the illustrations make clear that he is really just rough-housing. Oxenbury's dynamic, exaggerated representations of this exuberant black family are humorous and filled with action. The black-and-white line drawings beneath the large-print text are more successful than the full-page, full-color gouache paintings with which they alternate, as the latter border on caricature. Nonetheless, the rhythmic text and oversized format will make this a fun read-aloud.?Anna DeWind, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A baby boy is showered with love from his relatives as the clan gathers for a celebration in this exuberant picture book. The baby waits at the window with Mom, not "doing anything... nothing really," when, one by one, family members ring the doorbell and make a grand entrance. Auntie Bibba wants to squeeze the baby, Uncle Didi wants to kiss him, Nannie and Gran-Gran want to eat him and the baby's cousins want to fight him-all because they love him SO much. Once the house is "full, full, full," Dad walks in-and gets a real surprise. Cooke's (When I Grow Bigger) bubbly language works perfectly with her cumulative structure to take full advantage of the excitement and suspense of each new arrival. She also occasionally adopts African American dialect ("He flip-flap him over till he nearly drop him"), which may prove to be a slight stumbling block for some. Vibrant gouache paintings capture all the warmth of this close-knit group and realistic details of their clothes and mannerisms give the characters added life. Oxenbury (We're Going on a Bear Hunt) balances bold full-page portraits with transitional black-and-white spot art, modulating the flow of the joyous proceedings. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3-5. Mama and the baby are at home when the doorbell rings--"ding-dong"--it's Auntie Biba. Auntie Biba wants to squeeze the baby, she wants to squeeze him "SO MUCH!" And why not? This fat, sassy baby is eminently squeezable, huggable, and kissable, which is why the relatives, who keep pouring in, want to hug, kiss, and even wrestle with him "SO MUCH!" Only after Daddy's surprise birthday party, which brings out all the relatives, does the baby get tired enough to put his thumb in his mouth and fall asleep. Full of life, love, and laughter, this outsize picture book is a delight on every level. Cooke's jivey text has a beat and bounce that make it fun to read. Oxenbury paints a rich and vibrant black family with a true-to-life baby smack in the middle of it. Pencil sketches of the baby on the text pages move the action into the full-color family scenes that will remind readers of their own gatherings. Fun for kids and for the grown-ups in their lives. Ilene Cooper