Baby 101: Botany for Babies

by Jonathan Litton, Thomas Elliott (Illustrator)

Overview

It's never too early to get an A+ in botany! Here's a fun new board book series that introduces a wide array of nonfiction subjects to babies and toddlers.

Welcome to Baby 101, where big subjects are tailored for little babies. Featuring simple words and bright and engaging illustrations, this introduction to botany includes information about trees, flowers, seeds, and much more. So don't be late, because this is one class that babies won't want to miss. Look for the surprise lift-the-flap ending!

Also available in the Baby 101 series: Anatomy for Babies, Zoology for Babies, Architecture for Babies.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525648789
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Series:	Baby 101
Pages:	22
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

JONATHAN LITTON has written numerous children's books. He loves using his science background to write about sea creatures, space, and saving the planet, but is also fond of penning stories about pirates, princesses, and picnics. When not writing, he can usually be found on his bike.

THOMAS ELLIOTT is a children's book illustrator and art director based in London, England.

Editorial Reviews

2018-12-05

Another attempt to simplify a complex topic for babies or toddlers.

From the first, Elliott's stylized plants all have the look of the plants children draw in kindergarten—cheerful, but not scientifically accurate—and seem calculated to emphasize a sense of bounty rather than order. One spread is littered with seeds, but only seven are labeled—unless some are rocks or pebbles? Three following spreads try to explain the difference between roots and shoots, utilizing cross-section views to illustrate belowground growth. Without using the term, photosynthesis is summarized: "Leaves use sunlight to create energy and food for plants to grow." Similarly, the statement "Bees take pollen from flower to flower so the plants can make seeds" just scratches the surface. The picture of a smiling oversized bee accumulating pollen at the bottoms of all six feet does little to clarify. After a discussion of fruit and fruit seeds, the final spread shows two children (a child of color and a white-presenting child) gazing in amazement at a flower bud that blooms when a flap is lifted. Altogether a confusing disappointment, making this an unfortunate outlier in the Baby 101 series. Zoology for Babies, published simultaneously, is more successful. The topic is more familiar, and animals are more easily sorted by common features and habitat. Just don't believe its ending proclamation, "Now you're a zoologist!"

Overreaches and oversimplifies at the same time. (Board book. 1-4)

Kirkus Reviews