"Lighthearted multi-hued watercolor
illustrations show an exuberant Baby doing everything a wee boy
will do when he's got spiffy new shoes. Fast-moving rhyme and
playful illustrations invite kids on the go to scuff, scrape and
have a blast breaking them in."
~
Kirkus Reviews >
"The smooth-flowing text contains
wonderful repetitive phrases. The watercolor illustrations are
warm and inviting and the expressions on the characters’
faces are particularly delightful. A grand choice for one-on-one
sharing, as well as for storytime."
~
School Library Journal >
“Imaginative language….
upbeat pacing”
~
Seattle Times >
*Starred
Review* Gleeful after choosing new white shoes at
the store, Baby (actually a toddler) leads his pregnant mama
on a merry chase. As they head home, Baby playfully explores
the park, where grass, plums, fresh crosswalk paint, and more
add their distinctive hues to his increasingly "polka-dotted,
/ puddle-stomping, / rainbow-romping, / go-go-going shoes." In
the text, loping lines of rhymed couplets are interspersed
with staccato sections, followed by a refrain that reins
in the pace: "Baby says, 'Uh-oh!'/ Mama says, 'Oh, no!' / But
those shoes just go, go, go." The verse may at first seem
a bit challenging to read aloud, but the changing rhythm
creates a pleasing pattern and gives listeners places to
chime in. Setting a sunny tone for the excursion, Nakata's
airy watercolor artwork sympathetically depicts an increasingly
scruffy toddler and his tired but resilient mother. With
a buoyant tone in both verse and illustrations, this book
will be a fine addition to story hours and, given
young children's
affinity for shoes, a great
conversation starter.
—Booklist >
Inspired by her son's first pair of shoes, Dashka Slater's Baby Shoes (Bloomsbury Children's Books; 32 pages; $15.95; ages 2-6) uses rhyme and repetition to tell the story of a baby's adventure in his new "high-jumping, fast-running, fine-looking shoes" that become "speckle-spotted, polka-dotted, puddle-stomping, rainbow-romping, go-go-going shoes" after a day's activities. Hiroe Nakata's bright watercolor illustrations do a great job of capturing the looks of the carefree toddler and his doting mother."
—San Francisco Chronicle
All the makings of a family favorite.
. . its pacing has that combination of quick and unhurried
that is key for reading aloud (over and over again).
—
San Francisco
Magazine