Bright Horizons Book Review: It was early in the morning and “we moms and dads were eating pie. The babies saw some butterflies. And what do you know? Surprise! Surprise! The babies crawled away!” A heroic little boy saves the day (which takes all day) and rounds up the butterfly-chasing, bat-loving babies and ends up “in a small pile” asleep in the arms of his mother. Caldecott Medal winner Peggy Rathmann’s exuberant ballad is fun to read to a child of any age. Her strikingly beautiful illustrations animate the epic baby-wrangling adventure: sharp black silhouettes against a lovely luminous sky that subtly changes color as the day turns into night.

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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.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52916 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780399231964
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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

About the Author
Peggy Rathmann is the author/illustrator of the Caldecott Medal book Officer Buckle and Gloria.

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Customer Reviews

A Great Tale of Heroism From Peggy Rathman
One day, while the adults are distracted at a picnic, the babies crawl away. The only one who sees them leave is the hero of the story, a child in a fireman's hat. The babies crawl and the child chases. Eventually the babies are rounded up and returned to the parents and the hero gets a much deserved rest.

While the tale is simple, the illustrations add a wonderful dimension to the story. The pictures are done in a silhouette style but with no lack of detail. We see the babies crawl, hide in trees, and other antics. My favorite is the baby with a bow who starts hanging upside down like the bats. In the final scene we see this baby and a parent both hanging from the rafters.

A delightful book with detailed illustrations and fun rhymes. Kids learn that even little kids can be heroes. Check out all of Peggy Rathman's books.

Babies Away!
There is no justice in the world. None at all. Ladies and gentlemen I direct your attention this evening to "The Day the Babies Crawled Away". Now this is a tale told entirely in silhouette. It is accomplished and witty, ending with a touch of sentiment that brings an actual honest-to-goodness tear to the eye. And yet what did author Peggy Rathmann win the Caldecott Award for? For the phenomenally less deserving and trite, "Officer Buckle and Gloria". A fine book, but not even a hair close to the brilliance of this, her latest text.

The book begins in the early morning. A fair is being set up next to a group of houses. The narration speaks to the reader.

"Remember the day
The babies crawled away?"

And later...

"Remember the way
You tried to save the day?"

So we follow our protagonist, a boy in a fireman's helmet as he frantically follows five fast moving babies. The boy follows them from the woods, to the swamps, into caves and on ledges. The babies find themselves in perilous situations, and the intrepid young boy must find a way to save them all and get them back home safe and sound. When he returns to the fairgrounds, babies in tow, the grown-ups cheer him soundly. That night, boy and babies fall asleep in their parents' arms after a long and exhausting day.

It sounds cutesy, no question, and it isn't. Not in the least. First of all, technically it's remarkably adept. The silhouettes are so detailed and delicate that you find yourself discovering all sorts of tiny details on every page. Is that Officer Buckle and Gloria on the title page? Is the trophy given to the boy at the end topped with a pie? And how did Rathmann draw an exploding water balloon so well in silhouette? Looking at the babies, you can see that each one is differently drawn. There's the bonnet baby, the baby with one curl, the cornrows baby, the dredlocks baby, and the smallest baby of all that spends almost all of this book upside down. Rathmann uses the silhouette technique to her own advantage at critical times. When the babies collapse as a sleepy pile on top of their boy rescuer, the viewer can only make out a hand here, a heel there, and a wild assortment of perching birds, butterflies, and frogs. As for the text, it really does give credit where credit is due. The boy has saved the babies and as a reward we are shown a scene that touched me deeply. The boy sits on his mother's lap in the fading evening light. His fireman's hatted head is tipped gently towards his mama who is kissing him sweetly. In her hair, a butterly perches and the book says, "You told me your story, I brewed you some tea, then you fell fast asleep in a small pile on me" It's enough to break your heart.

And I haven't even gushed to you about the shifting colors of the day from early morning to the bright light of noon, and eventually the cool colors of twilight. For a book that deals up a healthy heaping of black, this is one of the most colorful (and lovely) picture books out there today. There's something about a story in which a toddler can be the ultimate hero that appeals deeply to children. The adults (incapacitated by a pie-eating contest) are useless here and it is up to a small boy to save the day. Rathmann had always struck me as the poor man's Steven Kellogg until now. With "The Day the Babies Crawled Away", I think she's really come into her own. It is perhaps the most charming toddler empowerment book I have ever seen. More importantly, it is simultaneously witty and beautiful. With so few books managing to be either one or the other, we should be careful to praise the few (like this one) that are both.

Not just a story
I had as much fun reading this as my kids did. But its not just a story, its an I spy game to. We noticed that there is one baby that is upside down on almost all the pages, can you find her? And as the babies crawl after the bees and bats they begin to follow the babies, can you find them? We had many different ages enjoying this book - 2, 4, 6, 8 & 33!
The black shadow drawing lets the kids use their imagination more.