Baby's First Words

Toddler-PreS—Readers are invited to spend a typical day with a child and her two dads—one black, one white. Different topics are covered: getting up, getting dressed, going to the playground, taking a bath, and going to bed, as well as vehicles, food, moods, home, and animals. The colorful mixed-media illustrations, rendered in a cartoon style, have an upbeat tone. Young children and their adult readers will enjoy examining the images and identifying the clearly labeled objects on each page. And if they want to turn to a certain topic, there are helpful tabs on the side to guide them. The companion volume, Mis primeras palabras, is visually identical to its English counterpart. Unfortunately, there are problems with the Spanish text. Though there is only one word that is incorrect (graznar for the sound an owl makes—the correct word is ulular), the feel of the language is wrong. In an attempt to imitate the English format, which is rich in onomatopoeic words, some very awkward equivalents have been invented, such as "¡Platch platch!" for "Splish Splash!" Also, it would not be natural for a Spanish-speaking child to learn the infinitive form of the verb first.