Mama Baby

by Chris Raschka

Overview

From Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka comes a sweet, simple picture book dialogue between a mother and baby, for the youngest of children.

Mama and Baby clap and play hide-and-seek and pat-a-cake. Mama and Baby . . . Mama? Where did Mama go? In a series of spreads, simple, bold illustrations show a mother on one side and a baby on the other, interacting in universally familiar ways — until Mama dips out briefly, then returns to her crying child to offer comfort again. With his usual flair, the redoubtable Chris Raschka offers a reassuring moment that will resonate with mamas and babies everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763690601
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,254,719
Product dimensions:	8.31(w) x 8.31(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Chris Raschka is an author and illustrator of many books for children. He is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster and the author-illustrator of A Ball for Daisy, both Caldecott Medal winners. He also illustrated four poetry collections by Paul B. Janeczko and is the author-illustrator of The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra. Chris Raschka lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/18/2019

Raschka (The Magic Flute) captures the intimacy between mother and infant with animated watercolors that celebrate imitative play. Mama has a wavy dark pate and expressive eyebrows; Baby has a fluff of golden hair and a rosebud mouth. They face each other horizontally, verso and recto: then the portraits turn sideways so that the two gaze at each other across the gutter, separated by a bright blue stripe. Mama sticks her tongue out, and Baby does, too, as hand-painted words echo their actions. Mama claps; Baby claps. Mama covers her eyes (“Bye-bye”); so does Baby. Then musical notes appear—the phone is ringing, perhaps? The doorbell? Mama vanishes. “Mama?” Baby says, eyes wide. Mama’s side is empty. Distress takes over, and a small mouth opens into a wail until Mama returns, and all is well. With full, heart-shaped lips, huge eyes, rosy cheeks, and heavy outlines, Raschka’s figures carry overtones of folk art, or religious icons. Deceptively simple, this small-scale study highlights the way that this kind of universal play builds trust and warmth between the generations. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Raschka (The Magic Flute) captures the intimacy between mother and infant with animated watercolors that celebrate imitative play...Deceptively simple, this small-scale study highlights the way that this kind of universal play builds trust and warmth between the generations.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

In this artfully composed picture book, Raschka gets to the emotional core of the relationship between a young child and a trusted adult...This everyday drama should resonate with the intended audience, who will likely find comfort in watching the events from the distance a book offers. Both characters satisfyingly acknowledge their audience in the end, where Baby—now reunited on the same page as Mama—waves safely from her arms. Be prepared for pleas of “Again, again!”
—The Horn Book (starred review)

Simple clothing, the empty white background, and uncluttered pages give the book a universal quality, making it appealing to the youngest readers.
—Booklist

A mother and child interact in familiar ways in Raschka’s latest, which uses unique formatting to stand out from the crowd.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

03/06/2020

Baby-Toddler—Raschka's simplistic storyline depicts mommy-and-me time. On a white background, Raschka's characteristic watercolors initially show profiles of Mama and Baby facing each other. The following pages have the characters facing each other across the gutter, but only if the book is held partially open. When laid flat on the table, both busts seem to spring from the thick blue line of the gutter, so that the faces are horizontal to the reader, a disorienting visual image. In this mimicking game, Baby repeats Mama's actions (claps, peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, etc.), until Mama is interrupted by something out of the frame represented only by musical notes. Is it the doorbell or her phone ringing? Following Mama's departure, Baby now faces a blank verso page. "Mama?" For several pages Mama does not appear, but when Baby cries out for her, she reappears without explanation. The final spreads reset the characters to vertical mid-lines, and Baby and Mama cuddle. VERDICT The title's minimal text and the age of the protagonist will hold little interest for preschool readers. Sideways portraits may distress the literal minds of toddlers and infants. Mommy-and-me time is an important topic, especially for new parents; however, this book fails as a read-aloud and as an instruction manual.—Richelle Rose, Kenton County Public Library, KY

School Library Journal

2020-03-15
A mother and child interact in familiar ways in Raschka’s latest, which uses unique formatting to stand out from the crowd.

Mama and baby face each other across the gutter on the first spread, and then the pages’ orientations change. Mama is still on verso, baby on recto, but now they are sideways if the book is traditionally oriented. To see each right side up, readers will need to turn the book first 90 degrees clockwise to see the adult right way up and then a full 180 degrees to likewise see the child. The design is clearly meant to emphasize the mirroring that occurs between parent and child as they interact: smiles; clapping; hiding behind hands and then “Peek-a-boo!”; “Pat-a-cake.” (Even the text is hand-lettered sideways.) One interaction near the ending may be too on-the-nose: On the mom’s side, musical notes appear and her eyes slide sideways. The next three spreads show baby alone, expression modulating from pouty questioning (“Mama?”) to surprise to an open-mouthed wail that brings Mama back. The baby’s “up up” appears before the book returns to a traditionally oriented spread of the two cuddling. Raschka’s watercolors are very simple, showing each from midchest up. Mama has dark hair and slightly darker skin than blond Baby’s fair skin and light hair; both have pinkish spots on their cheeks and large, pouty lips.

Cleverly shows mirroring in action, though the manipulation required may make sharing difficult. (Picture book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews

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