Product Description

What a lovely day at the fair. Children lining up for pony rides . . . moms and dads in a pie-eating contest . . . babies chasing butterflies . . . babies heading for the trees . . . I SAY! Where are those babies GOING? Only a small boy sees them leaving and follows as the babies chase butterflies in trees, frogs in a bog, even bats in a cave, ignoring pleas to come back. But not to worry, our hero saves the day, making sure that all the babies get home safely from their appealing adventures.

Caldecott Medal winner Peggy Rathmann has created a highly original story told in a lilting text and a bold new style with classic black silhouettes against stunning skies of many colors that change and glow as afternoon turns into evening.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25059 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-13
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-While the grown-ups are immersed in pie eating and other outdoor carnival festivities, their babies crawl away. The only one to observe this phenomenon is a toddler in a fireman's hat who follows them and saves them from such disasters as bat caves, cliff-hanging, and hunger, along the way shouting very responsible warnings and imprecations to "behave." When he brings them safely home, he is, of course, a hero. In the penultimate spread, it transpires that the tale is the boy's fantasy story retold by his loving mother just before he falls asleep. The babies and their adventures are rendered in stunning, sharply detailed, Pienkowski-like silhouette against a subtly changing backdrop that reflects the time of day. The boy's fireman's hat makes him easy to follow on each spread and also conveys his gallant status. This book has levels of complexity. Adults may be put off by the seeming parental neglect, but children will doubtless latch on to and enjoy the fact that the hero is a child, that none of the escapees seems in any real jeopardy, that the softly glowing pastel backgrounds lend a mood of unruffled calm, and that the story is, after all, fanciful. The verse doesn't always scan and occasionally does not rhyme, but oh those beguiling babies-they're irresistible!-Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 1. Caldecott Medal-winner Rathman tries something different here, but she isn't altogether successful. The exuberant text is directed to a young boy with the rescuing sensibility of Holden Caufield, who catches wandering babies: "Remember the way / You tried to save the day? / You hollered, "HEY! / You babies, Stay!" Alas, none of them do; instead they crawl off to chase bees and scramble onto a ledge. The fun is in the oversize pictures with silhouette images set against gloriously colored, subtly shaded backgrounds. These illustrations, reminiscent of the art in Jan Pienkowski's books about Christmas and Easter, may be difficult for little children to absorb. Not only must kids read details into the flat, black silhouettes, but they will also find that some objects are so small they are hard to discern. In addition, though the text is peppy, it can be difficult to read aloud. Is the book worth buying? Yes. The conceit is clever, the artwork is creative and lovely, and children with patience and imagination will find a bit more to see than they might find in a book with conventional art. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Card catalog description
A boy follows fives babies who crawl away from a picnic and saves the day by bringing them back.

Customer Reviews

Rises to a 21-month old's favorite's list
This book about runaway babies is captivatingly drawn. I love the uniqueness of the silhouette presentation; the contrast of black against soft color draws the reader to the next page to puzzle out the action before the text explains. The book shows to our young ones how shape and outline are important in identifying everyday objects and people, requiring an analytical eye to determine what we see. The text is a sweet, easy pleasure to read out loud.

Putting all of my adult fascination and the educational value aside, my 21-month old loves this book, requesting it nightly by his favorite repeating motif the butterfly as "Fly-fly".

I had originally purchased this book for by 5-year old nephew, and I still think it would have been appropriate for him, although it's probably better suited for a nearly 2- to 4-year old.

Almost essential :)
This is a story about, as you may have guessed, a boy who saves five babies after they crawl away. (The moms and dads were eating pies, and didn't see the babies leave.)

The characters are drawn, as the cover indicates, as silhouettes, but all the same you can see some personality on them - especially the baby that's always upside down!

Please note that this book is oversized, and you may have difficulty shelving it.

A favorite
All ages ADORE this book in our house. "...We moms and dads were eating pies, the babies saw some butterflies, and what do you know? Surprise, surprise! The babies crawled away..."

The story continues, "Remember the way you tried to save the day? You hollered, 'Hey! You babies stay!' but none of them did..." and we get to join our little hero and the five babies on their adventure of climbing through trees, crawling through caves, eating blackberries, and other exciting feats.

The silhouette illustrations are very impressive. There are little surprises in each of the pictures, which is a lot of fun. For example, there is a caterpillar on every page, appartently the sidekick of our little hero. The rhyming text is also very catchy, which means my one-year-old stays very interested and my three-year-old has most of it memorized.

We have A LOT of books, and this is definitely a favorite (top five, at least). Every toddler-age child we've shared this book with has absolutely loved it.