I Kissed the Baby!

by Mary Murphy, Mary Murphy (Illustrator)

Overview

Mary Murphy’s big, eye-catching graphics and bouncy, ebullient text are sure to enchant readers who are celebrating a baby - or relishing their own claim to the title.

"I saw the baby! Did you see the baby?"
"Yes! I saw the baby, the teeny weeny thing."

It’s so exciting! News of the baby is buzzing from animal to animal, with each one - fish, bird, squirrel, insect, frog - boasting of seeing, feeding, singing to, tickling, and kissing the tiny little thing. With bold black-and-white illustrations and a flash of vivid yellow for the wee chick’s appearance at the end, Mary Murphy’s simple, singsong story captures the giddy commotion only a baby can bring.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536224108
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	05/17/2022
Pages:	16
Sales rank:	132,042
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 6.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Mary Murphy is the author and illustrator of a number of children’s books, including HOW KIND!. I KISSED THE BABY!, she says, "is about how excited everyone is to welcome a new baby into the community. It’s best read, like a nursery rhyme, by whomever is holding Baby at the time." She lives in Galway, Ireland.

Editorial Reviews

With an animal cast so elated that they seem on the verge of jumping into readers' laps, Murphy (How Kind!) offer indisputable proof that a newborn is one of nature's most powerful mood enhancers. A fish leaps for joy: "I saw the baby! Did you see the baby?" "Yes!" a wide-eyed heron-like bird exclaims. "I saw the baby, the teeny weeny thing." More pairs gleefully compare notes in rhythmic prose about feeding, tickling or serenading the baby, and Murphy's bold, silhouetted characterizations-popping like flashbulbs out of alternating backgrounds of black and white-make it clear that everyone has come away energized from their infant interaction. A band of a single solid color (chartreuse, fuchsia, sienna) on the top, bottom or side of each spread injects additional pizzazz. The happiest animal of all: the baby's mother, a duck. "Of course I kissed the baby, my own amazing baby," she tells a hopping mouse. The feathered mother then turns to her adoring yellow offspring (the first color introduced into the main composition) to kiss her duckling once more with a huge "Ppfffwah!" (an onomatopoeia made even more memorable thanks to Murphy's own coltish typography). The high-contrast pictures and exclamatory text are guaranteed eye and ear magnets for littlest ones. Even skeptical new siblings will get a kick out of the animals' unbridled enthusiasm. Ages 2-5. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-The animals are overjoyed about the new baby in the barnyard, and it's all they can talk about. "Did you see the baby?" they ask one another. "I sang to the baby!" "Did you tickle the baby?" When a tiny mouse asks the duck if she kissed the baby, the duck replies, "Of course I kissed the baby, my own amazing baby." And the newcomer finally makes its appearance. Murphy makes creative use of color on the edges of the black-and-white pages, until the duckling appears in a splash of vibrant yellow, and the text changes to hot pink. This is an ideal book for little eyes and ears, for text, illustrations, and design meld perfectly to capture the excitement of welcoming a new arrival.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The excitement of a new arrival is proclaimed loudly and by all: "I saw the baby! Did you see the baby? Yes! I saw the baby, the teeny weeny thing." Then, "I fed the baby! Did you feed the baby? Yes! I fed the baby. What a hungry little one!" Set on solid black or white backgrounds, the words are in big, splashy letters of the opposite color as are the simple, graphic animal figures, one to a page: fish, squirrel, ant, bird, frog. A thick edge of bright color oozes along one edge of each spread. Finally the duck says, "Of course I kissed the baby, my own amazing baby." Her little duckling is in bright yellow; her mother’s kiss "Ppfffwah!" in glowing tea rose, with little pink hearts. This is ebullient and adorable, and its clear, broadly articulated forms make it a natural to read to toddler groups and--as advised--by the person holding the new baby. Also useful for youngsters who might need a little push to greet the new sibling with enthusiasm. A knock-out in design and concept. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews

This is ebullient and adorable, and its clear broadly articulated forms make it a natural to read to toddler groups and—as advised—by the person holding the new baby . . . A knock-out in design and concept.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

An animal cast so elated that they seem on the verge of jumping into readers' laps . . . The high-contrast pictures and exclamatory text are guaranteed eye and ear magnets for the littlest ones.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This is an ideal book for little eyes and ears, for text, illustrations, and design meld perfectly to capture the excitement of welcoming a new arrival.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Featured/recommended on Oprah's 2012 Kids Reading List
—Oprah.com

From the Publisher