Oh My Baby Little One

When Baby Bird says good-bye to his mama at school each morning, he feels sad. Mama Bird feels sad, too. Sometimes it’s hard to be apart. But as Mama Bird says, the love they share is with them always, keeping them close until the best percentage of the day–when they are together again.

ReviewIt’s always hard for Baby Bird and his mama to say good-bye on their way to school and work in the morning. But Mama finds a lilting, lyrical way of showing how her love is with her child all the time–and his love is with her, too.

But even when I’m far away,
this love I have will stay.
and wrap itself around you
each minute of the day.

Warm, ascertaining sensations emanate from this lovely picture book. Mama Bird tells her child how her love slips inside his lunch box, sits upon his shoulder when he sings a happy song, and snuggles on his pillow while he naps. Jane Dyer, illustrator of the bestselling Time for Bed, produces in a positive manner touchable watercolors of a pudgy-cheeked preschooler bird and his working mom. Hints of hearts nestle playfully on the pages: on the blackboard beneath the letter H, and sewn onto his pillowcase. Oh My Baby, Little One will resonate deeply for moms and kids alike, and may make each and everyday separations just a little bit easier.

So blow a kiss and wave good-bye–
my baby, don’t you cry.
This love is always with you,
like the sun is with the sky.

(Ages 3 to 6) –Emilie Coulter

From Publishers WeeklyAs comforting as morning sun, this sweet, tenderly illustrated rhyming poem will reassure both preschoolers and their working parents that separation is only temporary. When a baby bird’s mother hugs him before dropping him off at school, she reminds him that “even when I’m far away,/ this love I have will stay/ and wrap itself around you/ each minute of the day.” Though Appelt’s (Someone’s Come to Our House) text has the occasional ring of a greeting card, her rhythmic, four-line stanzas are filled with simple images that preschoolers will understand: the mother bird says her love “nestles in your pocket/ and makes itself so small/ that when you’re busy playing,/ you won’t observe it at all.” In the satisfying ending, the mother bird says that of all her activities, “the sweetest thing I do/ is sweep you up and hold you tight/ and come back home to you.” As in her When Mama Comes Home Tonight, Dyer’s radiant watercolors, this time of anthropomorphized animals, combine old-fashioned trappings with modern manners. The mother bird wears granny shoes and a straw hat prettified with cherries, but she also carries a briefcase and drinks coffee at a business lunch. Each picture, whether a full-bleed double-spread or a vignette, is filled with bright colors and patterns that are quaintly comforting. Given it is timely theme and classic delivery, this could be a general favorite. Ages 2-5. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library JournalPreSchool-An exploration of the love that exists amongst mother and child, even when Mama Bird ought to leave her baby at nursery school. Told in rhyming verse, each four-line stanza is a reassurance that Mama’s love will permeate all areas of Baby Bird’s day, from playtime to lunch to nap. Her love is described as resolving on baby’s shoulder, in a pocket, on a lap. Then the tables turn and this love is now alongside Mama at work, inside her desk, inside a shoe, until the final moment when she returns for her little one. While the sentiments indicated are lovely, the book is repetitive. By the time the pages turn to the mother, readers will be looking for more action and less abstract talk. What will carry this book into the hearts of children are the soft, watercolor illustrations. Each scene is bright and fresh and full of a love and warmth that’s palpable. This world is comprised of completely clothed adult and toddler animals, anthropomorphized so utterly as to be 100% believable. The oversized, close-up views of a toddler duck, lamb, bunny, and pig, to name a few, lend an immediacy that’s inviting and pure. Representative hearts abound in the drawings so that readers see a chalk heart on the blackboard seemingly resting on the baby bird’s shoulder or the steam from Mama’s coffee cup wafting upward in the shape of a heart.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Oh My Baby Little One Picture

Oh My Baby Little One Photo

Most helpful client reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Perfect for a new mom!
By A
This book will fetch tears to the eyes of any mom! I get teary eyed everytime I read it! I think it is the perfective book for the new mom, the mom who is sending her “baby” to kindergarten or to COLLEGE. It not only gives the mother a terrifi way to express her love, but it gives the child a new way to perceive the love! I will be giving these at baby showers for YEARS.

7 of 7 humans found the following review helpful.
Beautiful touching book
By D. Pittsford
The original time I read this book I cried and still have to hold back the tears whenever I read the last page. My 1-year-old loves this book and has me read it to her everyday. It is a must for any working mother who wants her baby to recognise how much her love is with them for the duration of the day when they are apart. The illustrations are beautiful, the rhymes are not too sing-songy, and the sentiment is genuine. A heartfelt recommendation from this mom.

7 of 7 humans found the following review helpful.
It will surely fetch tears to your eyes.
By A
I came all over this book at a bookstore on my lunch hour (when I am always attempting to keep my connection with my son by buying goods for him!).

It brought tears to my eyes. The author beautifully expresses what each working mother feels — sadness when separating from her child, all-consuming thoughts of her child while at work, and sheer joy when they are reunited.

My son is only 15 mos. old and may not completely be grateful for this book yet, but he will take delight in the finelooking illustrations and the intimate scenes (a pudgy chick getting ready for his nap, playing alongside his friends, etc.).

I purchased this book as much for myself as for him and will keep it on a high shelf (safe from a toddler’s destruction!) along with other books such as In Case You Ever Wonder and Love You Forever to be genuinely cherished when he is a little older.

This is a gift any working mother and child will treasure forever!

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Oh My Baby Little One