Monday, January 15, 2007

Babies



BABIES was published in 1963. The author is Gyo Fujikawa, who was raised in a Japanese household in California.

This book is something that you and your baby can enjoy together. It can also help a toddler prepare for the arrival of another newborn in the house by walking him/her through the world of babies.

I like the book because it exudes sweetness, it is warm and tender. Pictures of babies that make you smile, that make you appreciate how they make even the mundane things in life a pleasure. Inside, is a portrayal of everyday activities that babies do - crying, getting changed, eating, sleeping, drinking and the like. There are drawings of cheerful babies running around, naughty lilliputians preoccupied with mischief-making and the really cherubic ones busy with acts of goodness. There is neither a storyline nor a moral. However it succeeds in what, I think, it was intended to do - make babies relate to other babies and see their own world unravel before them. What the simple illustrations do for the adult is evoke the realization how very elementary things like holding a spoon or sliding a sock up the leg are actually huge successes in their petite innocent world!

The book was actually considered revolutionary, more so around the time it was published. Stumped? Here is the icing on the cake - the book shows babies of different races playing together and hugging each other! Gyo Fujikawa's book depicting ethnically diverse children coexisting happily, in a way, opened the door to many more multicultural pictures books. It was for this reason that I felt immensely pleased when I picked up this book, even though this issue was much beyond the cognizance of my infant daughter!

There are so many good books out there for toddlers, preschoolers and young adults but what can I read to my baby - BABIES by Gyo Fujikawa. Enjoy!

6 comments:

ranjani.sathish said...

Hi Meera
Nice review ! Seems to be an interesting book :-)

Praba Ram said...

Very interesting review - about the fact that this was actually the first multi-cultural book to be published. Secondly, the portrayal of babies doing day to day activities is such a simple and cute concept that is quite unique in some ways - yet special in many ways that would make babies feel so important.
Would love to check this one out for my infant.

Tharini said...

Cute review Meera. I think I'd like this one to how my son what babies do...it wud give him a graphic account of all the stuff I have been telling him abt his sibing to be.

Meera Sriram said...

Glad you guys liked it. Thanks.

Sean C Jackson said...

My family adores her books. Another favorite is "Baby Animals". I hope they continue to reprint these lovely books for years to come.

Dee said...

excellent blog ! I especially loved the agewise categorizing. Keep up the great work..
-Dee

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