Brown Baby Lullaby

Starred review from November 15, 2019
A family goes through their evening routine, ending with putting the "sweet brown baby" to bed. A young black couple plays with their baby on a blanket on a large expanse of grass in front of a white, two-story home. The sun sets and they go inside, where rhyming verses bring the family through playtime with pots to a messy spaghetti dinner in the high chair, followed by a bath, kisses, dancing to Coltrane, a story, and a tuck-in. Spanish words are organically sprinkled throughout the English text--"Look, mi hijo," and "Vamos, fussy baby"--making this one of few picture books to represent Afro-Latinx families. The mother and father, both dressed in jeans, share the parenting time and duties equally, cooking, cuddling, bathing, and tucking in the baby together. A bright golden glow bathes the indoor scenes in a warm light. Details such as the baby's one tooth and the one-eye-open peek shared with Papi during grace at dinnertime make Ford's pictures palpably sweet. Brown's simple text masters the rhythmic cadence of a classic bedtime book, making this a likely new favorite for many families. A perfect read-aloud for bedtime. (Picture book. 1-5)

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December 15, 2019
Preschool-K Fans of Minfong Ho's Hush! A Thai Lullaby (1996) and Alice Duncan's Honey Baby Sugar Child (2005) will love the way the parents of the child in this book go through the day with an active toddler. Watching this young brown-skinned child crawl through the house, make a mess during mealtime, and splash water in the tub promotes a universal message of the challenges all parents have when raising a kid. Infused with positive messaging and phrases in Spanish, this picture book helps ensure that children in the early grades have culturally diverse books to read. Brown and Ford make an outstanding team, drawing together realistic illustrations, gentle words, and beautiful phrases often uttered by parents to communicate love and acceptance to their children. Parents, caregivers, and preschool teachers will find this book a relatable bed- or naptime read-aloud that can be paired with Nikki Grimes' Bedtime for Sweet Creatures (2020) if little ones need just one more story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2020
Chronicling the nighttime routine of a family, Brown has penned a bedtime story that is immediately warm and relatable for families with young children. We follow an Afro-Latinx couple as they finish their day with their little one and entreat him to "Look, mi hijo, at the sun / Setting now that day is done / Moonlight's breaking, night's begun / Come, my sweet brown baby." Activities include cooking dinner while their "noisy rowdy baby" bangs on pots and pans, dinnertime during which the "independent baby" attempts to feed himself, bath time with a "silly splashy baby," and a bedtime blessing of "Buenas noches, baby." Double-page spreads portray the family dynamic: the mischievous grin between father and son during prayer time, the warm family hug as the parents dry baby off after a bath. While the facial expressions of the mother and father remain mostly peaceful and calm, illustrator Ford captures the toddler's changing emotions as he goes through his nighttime routine. With the rhythmic text and engaging illustrations, here's a book that could become part of yours.

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2020
Chronicling the nighttime routine of a family, Brown has penned a bedtime story that is immediately warm and relatable for families with young children. We follow an Afro-Latinx couple as they finish their day with their little one and entreat him to "Look, mi hijo, at the sun / Setting now that day is done / Moonlight's breaking, night's begun / Come, my sweet brown baby." Activities include cooking dinner while their "noisy rowdy baby" bangs on pots and pans, dinnertime during which the "independent baby" attempts to feed himself, bath time with a "silly splashy baby, " and a bedtime blessing of "Buenas noches, baby." Double-page spreads portray the family dynamic: the mischievous grin between father and son during prayer time, the warm family hug as the parents dry baby off after a bath. While the facial expressions of the mother and father remain mostly peaceful and calm, illustrator Ford captures the toddler's changing emotions as he goes through his nighttime routine. With the rhythmic text and engaging illustrations, here's a book that could become part of yours. Eboni Njoku

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)