Babies are all around, and if you look carefully you can watch how they grow and change. Newborns sleep, drink milk, burp, pee, poo, and cry. Very soon they can smile and giggle and wave arms and legs. Then they recognize faces, grasp objects, burble, sit up, and even roll about. Things get messy when they start eating solid food, and watch out as they crawl, then stand while holding on to nearby furniture. Time seems to speed up, and they are saying their first words and toddling, a bit unsteadily at first, babies no more. Double-page spreads filled with Asquith's playful, exuberant cartoons depict babies and families engaged in actions appropriate to each developmental stage. Families depicted are racially and ethnically diverse and include a pair of twins as well as a multiracial, two-mother family, one of whom uses a wheelchair. (A hijabi mum never takes her scarf off, even inside the home.) Some of the illustrations are framed, some are scattered, and some are seen with all the families involved together in a single setting. Babies or their paraphernalia float across the endpapers and along tops or sides of several pages. Hoffman incorporates British vernacular in direct conversational descriptions of babies' development, with asides in the form of their sounds and perceived thoughts, as well as their parents' interactions with them. And oh yes, be sure to pay attention to the fuzzy pink toy elephant who appears in each spread with a comment to highlight babies' new accomplishments. Little ones, perhaps new big brothers and sisters, will cuddle with a loving grown-up and find comfort and reassurance here. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Children who are intrigued by babies will find relevant information in this brightly illustrated picture book. The text guides viewers through typical scenes that can be observed during the first year of life, from infancy (sleeping, crying, smiling, nursing or drinking from a bottle), advancing to activities (babbling, eating solid foods, talking, sitting, crawling, pulling up to standing position), and finally, after repeated attempts, achieving toddlerhood (walking, running). Hoffman's text creates a welcoming tone that is evident in the art as well. Lively drawings, brightened with watercolor washes, illustrate scenes of busy babies, their families, and their communities. One wide picture shows buildings on a city street and, below it, close-ups of families with babies seen through small windows in the street scene above. A stuffed-animal elephant appears in most of the scenes, commenting on the action in thought bubbles and concluding with "Toddlers, toddlers EVERYWHERE!" An upbeat picture book that's just right for young children who are anticipating or observing a baby in the family and wondering what to expect during the newcomer's first year.