Author/Illustrator: Peggy Rathmann
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2003
Age Level: 2-6
Themes: babies, rescue, picnicking, stories in rhyme
Opening: Remember the day the babies crawled away? We moms and dads were eating pies, the babies saw some butterflies– and what do you know? Surprise! Surprise! The babies crawled away!
Summary: A boy follows five babies who crawl away from a picnic and saves the day by bringing them back.
Why I like this book: I like it despite it’s imperfections. Nay! I love it all the more because it’s not perfect. It’s genuine. I found it incredibly easy and fun to read aloud – even to myself! You can’t help but inflect it with lighthearted pleasure! Might just be the book to help the beginning babysitter, or mind-numbing nanny, learn how to read with kids! The rhyme isn’t tight, but I think that’s what I like – it’s natural! Of course, I am a sucker for silhouettes, and though I am not particularly fond of 80’s neon color-scream, it adds to the unlikely twists. I read somewhere that parents might not like showing a parental inattentiveness, but I have had a baby crawl away, and a toddler ride a bike with training wheels so fast only the ice cream sign at the kiosk stopped her from reaching the main street, and my kids LOVE to hear the tales of their own escape!
Activities: Create pictures with scratch paper, the kind that looks black until you scratch away to reveal bright rainbow colors. You can buy it ready made, but when I was a kid, we made our own, by covering a piece of paper with crayon and painting it over in black. Mom didn’t care for the mess, but didn’t mind it on the patio!
Go to Susanna Hill’s blog for more Perfect Picture Books and activities.
I’ll look for this – I like the silhouettes as well. I have “The Great Unexpected” on my nightstand and the cover seems similar to that last spread with the trees.
I think the redeeming quality is that the boy brings the babies back. Not sure if my two would choose to rescue a wandering sib!
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Yes, I just looked up the book and the cover does have that feel. And they would want to take part in a rescue adventure like this!
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I saw this one at the library last week and tried to get the kids to read it to me, but no one was interested! They wanted truck books! I guess I’ll have to go with just the Mom Person and get her to read it. It looks pretty cute. Thanks for sharing!
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Ach, these kids!
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I love the cover and the silhouettes, and the title. It looks cute. Little ones are fast. I slipped out of the house on many occasions as a young child.
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Bet there’s a story there…!
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I’ve read that, it’s wonderful!
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It looks totally cute. The title made me laugh out loud. I remember feeling that way once when I was babysitting three 1 year olds. They were crawling everywhere!
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Bet there is a good story in that as well!
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This looks awesome. I, too, have had my children get away from me a few times (well, more than that, really). I think my older son will find this funny, as the baby is crawling all over the place now.
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I hope he does!
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I don’t know how you find all of these endearing children’s books, but I can’t wait to have grandchildren. Oh. Yes I can. You know what I mean! Keep up the good finds!
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Ha, ha! And I find them all just blocks away from your house…
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I remember those drawings. And I am fascinated with the illustrations of this book, along with the storyline. What a comical plot!
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My kids LOVED to hear about their toddler escapades – no matter how close to the truth!
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So, I joke that you are Enzo’s personal librarian. After today, it’s confirmed you are also mine. 🙂
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I can’t wait to read some all together…need to pop in sometime!
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Love that opening -it has a great rhythm to it…might have to seek this one out too!
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
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I love this book too. It’s really hard not to. Thanks for the inventive activity. Excellent.
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True!
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What’s there not to like. Had a smile on my face reading your review. Now I have to go find this…. thanks, Julie.
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Also just finished Kami and the Yaks – thanks for the tip, beautiful book!
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I love silhouettes too! They are pretty interesting things!
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It looks gorgeous.
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