What is JacketFlap

  • JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans.
    Join now (it's free).

Sort Blog Posts

Sort Posts by:

  • in
    from   

Suggest a Blog

Enter a Blog's Feed URL below and click Submit:

Most Commented Posts

In the past 7 days

Recent Comments

Recently Viewed

JacketFlap Sponsors

Spread the word about books.
Put this Widget on your blog!
  • Powered by JacketFlap.com

Are you a book Publisher?
Learn about Widgets now!

Advertise on JacketFlap

MyJacketFlap Blogs

  • Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.

Blog Posts by Tag

In the past 7 days

Blog Posts by Date

Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: babies, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 104
1. Baby on Board

I'm working on a new book scheduled for Spring 2017. It's by Marianne Berkes and published by Dawn Publications. I'll post more as I go along. If you haven't guessed it's about how animals carry their young. How did somebody carry you when you were little?

Baby clings on Mama's Hair. 

This Mom is like a living raft as she transports her pup.
Check back for new babies as I continue to draw; maybe a cub, a joey, a pup, a spiderling, who knows?
Thanks for taking a look!
Cathy

0 Comments on Baby on Board as of 3/26/2016 1:57:00 AM
Add a Comment
2. #836 – #BabyLove: My Social Life by Corine Dehghanpisheh

#BabyLove:  My Social Life Written & Illustrated by Corine Dehghanpisheh My Art to Inspire    7/09/2015 978-0-9851930-4 18 pages    Ages 1—3 “’Click.’ ‘Tap.’ Tag and post. An adorable baby tells a modern tale about life in today’s digital world. #BabyLife: My Social Life highlights the social phenomena of sharing daily activities using technology and …

Add a Comment
3. Reading to Babies


The Friends of the Dallas Public Library recently started giving away copies of Read to Me by Judi Moreillon to new parents at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Read to Me encourages family members to read aloud to their children.  It’s a nice gift to welcome a baby to the community.

You can read the January 30, Dallas Morning News story about how the Parkland Health & Hospital System has partnered with the Dallas Public Library and the Friends of the Dallas Public Library to give babies born this year a copy of Read to Me, a board book about reading to babies and children.  The Dallas Morning News followed up with an editorial on February 2, congratulating the Friends of the Dallas Public Library for their efforts promoting early literacy skills that will help the children in the Dallas community.

Reading to Your Own Baby

For all the families who don’t own a copy of Read to Me, what tips can I, as a librarian, offer you about reading aloud to your children?

First of all, relax and have fun. The attention you are giving your child is making your child happy. You might think of yourself as a “bad” reader, but your child thinks you are a superstar.

Board books, those heavy cardboard books, are good for children 0-2 years of age. Board books are meant to be chewed, hugged, thrown and loved.  Chewing is normal. Babies test their world with their mouths.  That’s why publishers make books safe for babies to put in their mouths.

What should you read to a child? Infants and toddlers like books with photos of other babies. Your baby will probably pat the books when they like a face on the page. Infants will enjoy hearing your voice no matter what you read.

Older toddlers enjoy books about numbers, shapes, colors or ABCs. Rhyming books are a good choice too.

There is no rule that you have to read the whole book at one time. If your child gets up to run around, that’s okay. Books can be picked up and read at a later time. Or, if your child chose one of those really long stories and YOU are tired, you can just read one sentence or make up a story about the picture on the page. 

Now go read a book to your baby and have fun sharing a story together.

0 Comments on Reading to Babies as of 2/8/2016 12:50:00 PM
Add a Comment
4. #738 – When a Dragon Moves In Again by Jodi Moore & Howard McWilliam

When a Dragon Moves In Again Written by Jodi Moore Illustrated by Howard McWilliam Flashlight Press        9/01/2015 978-1-936261-35-2 32 pages        Age 4—8 “If you build a perfect castle, a dragon will move in, followed by. . . a baby?! Preparations are in fll swing o welcome a new family …

Add a Comment
5. Video Sunday: Kinda makes you wanna watch more ballets, don’t it?

Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.  So MUCH very very good stuff to show you today.  Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.  Hrm. Howzabout we begin with one of my favorite tropes: things that parody other things that you’ve never seen. It was Dana Sheridan who directed my attention to this video about The Queen of Hearts from an Alice ballet. A lot of time is spent explaining how one of her dances parodies a very specific dance from Sleeping Beauty. All I know is that we need more funny ballets in this world. Preferably based on children’s books in some manner.

Thanks to Dana Sheridan for the link.

In the book trailer world I came across this little trailer for Hilo.  I liked Hilo quite a bit and the animated portions of this video simple sweeten the pot.

And well . . . come on. It’s the viral video of the week. You don’t think I’d let this one go, do you? It’s practically the whole reason I’m doing a Video Sunday today. What I like to do is look at the book covers the kid’s being read. Lots of Margaret Wise Brown in there, but a nice shot of Global Babies and other beloved contemporary favs as well. Bravo, parents!

Me stuff and it’s audio, not video, but eh. Life’s short.  I was asked to speak with Chicago’s radio station WGN on Friday evening, so I did so about pretty much all things children’s literature.  Now I’ll admit right now that I should have made a better point about how picture books have a higher reading level than easy books and that reading them as an older kid is totally legitimate.  That’s the problem with live radio.  It just goes too fast.  But Justin Kaufmann was an awesome host and we had a great time with the yakkety yak.  In case you’re curious, the link is here.

betsybirdWGN

So full credit where credit is due to Travis Jonker for locating this remarkable Wall Street Journal interview with Brian Selznick about how his drawings become a book like The Marvels.  Brief it may be, but worth your time and attention.

Screen Shot 2015-09-05 at 9.49.34 PM

Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for the link.

Okay.  The off-topic video.  I want to pay tribute to my new town.  And what better way to do so than to show you this truly dated and WONDERFUL history of Evanston, IL.  For fun, just skip to the section on “Evanston Today” at 12:10, sit back, and just soak it in.  Soak. It. In.

Share

3 Comments on Video Sunday: Kinda makes you wanna watch more ballets, don’t it?, last added: 9/8/2015
Display Comments Add a Comment
6. Picture Book Roundup - June 2015 edition

Enjoy a slide show version of this month's picture book roundup - a sampling of my new favorites!
 If the slide show doesn't work for you, I've listed the books below with links to my reviews on LibraryThing.

 

0 Comments on Picture Book Roundup - June 2015 edition as of 6/8/2015 7:18:00 AM
Add a Comment
7. Elizabeth Honey’s ‘Hop Up! Wriggle Over!’ – One for Mum and Bub

Hop Up! Wriggle Over!, Elizabeth Honey (author, illus.), Allen & Unwin, April 2015.   Cherish the moments of early mornings, chaotic meal times, constantly chasing tails and a house that’s never tidy, because one day it will be a distant memory; and you’ll miss it. This recent release emanates all this energy, and more; it’s […]

Add a Comment
8. Congrats To Mariah Huehner on the birth of her daughter

Comics writer and former Vertigo and IDW editor Mariah Huehner gave birth to a daughter yesterday, named Olivia. Mom is alert and tweeting. Baby looks cute. Congrats to Mariah, husband Chris Koeppel and baby Olivia. we see some comics in your future.

 

Also this is the perfect place to post that Mariah/Rose McIver of iZombie Separated at Birth I’ve been sitting on for years and years. Eerie, isn’t it!

 

maraiah_zombie

0 Comments on Congrats To Mariah Huehner on the birth of her daughter as of 3/18/2015 11:26:00 AM
Add a Comment
9. The third parent

The news that Britain is set to become the first country to authorize IVF using genetic material from three people—the so-called ‘three-parent baby’—has given rise to (very predictable) divisions of opinion. On the one hand are those who celebrate a national ‘first’, just as happened when Louise Brown, the first ever ‘test-tube baby’, was born in Oldham in 1978. Just as with IVF more broadly, the possibility for people who otherwise couldn’t to be come parents of healthy children is something to be welcomed.

The post The third parent appeared first on OUPblog.

0 Comments on The third parent as of 3/9/2015 3:44:00 AM
Add a Comment
10. Babies, BaBieS, BABIES!









0 Comments on Babies, BaBieS, BABIES! as of 3/3/2015 1:00:00 PM
Add a Comment
11. FB Sketch Challenge....












Day One: FB Sketch Challenge












































Day Two



0 Comments on FB Sketch Challenge.... as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
12. Motherhood Comes in All Shapes and Sizes

I love, love, LOVE this video. I’ve always had a problem with sanctimonious mothers who think THEIR way is the BEST way to raise a child.

I couldn’t disagree more.

I bottle fed my children and I’m not ashamed to admit that. I used to be ashamed to admit it because whenever I would mention it on this blog, or anywhere else, quite frankly, I would get the disapproving stink eye or a snarky comment. And then I would inevitably feel inadequate and guilty.

Not anymore, dude. I’m not even going to justify my decision – I did what I thought was best for my children and my sanity.

It always annoys me whenever people feel the need to justify their decisions. I’m sure you did what you thought best. End of discussion.

And that’s where I stand on motherhood issues.

Whether you bottle fed, breast fed, stayed at home, worked out of the home, used cloth diapers or disposable diapers – in the end, it’s really none of my business. As long as you’re doing what’s best for the child and your family, it really doesn’t matter. The ultimate goal is to raise our children to be responsible, educated, compassionate human beings; how you reach that goal is up to you. There is no “one size fits all” answer, no matter what you hear politicians, the media, or even other mothers try to convince us otherwise.

You do what’s best for you and your family and don’t you dare feel guilty about your decisions or feel like you have to justify your decisions.

Ultimately – it’s none of our business how you live your life.


Filed under: Life

0 Comments on Motherhood Comes in All Shapes and Sizes as of 1/25/2015 2:43:00 PM
Add a Comment
13. The Tale of Two Labours - Eve Ainsworth


It dawned on me the other day that writing is very similar to raising children. Bear with me on this, it may sound crazy, but there are parallels.
I guess it goes without saying that I'm a mother - a bit obvious I guess and a bloody tired one at that. I'm not your 'Earth-woman' type. I hated NCT classes and physically recoiled if anyone pushed a childcare manual my way, but somehow, god knows how, I managed to raise two, slightly quirky but still very beautiful-to-me children.






One of my bundles of joy...













I guess my writing is quite similar. I wasn't particularly academic (never had the concentration), I hated reading any 'how-to' manuals, but somehow, god knows how, I managed to produce a book.

And the coincidences do not end there. I noted the following:

  • I fell pregnant the first time and it was a bright and exciting moment (this was long before the morning sickness and other uglies kicked in). You are full of hope and wonder. The world seems a bright and exciting place. You start writing an idea down, it's the same - bright and exciting. You can't stop thinking about it. It's alive and growing.  Everything is good.
  • In pregnancy you think of names. You toil with the absurd and the traditional. Something might grab you and stick. In the early stages of writing, you might gift your book with a title. For me It has to have one. I can't physically write without it. And it has to be right. This has caused me serious neurosis.
  • In both pregnancy and writing you grow. Pregnancy is pretty obvious, especially with my cravings for deep fried chicken and waffles. In writing, if you're like me, you'll eat constantly - grazing like a demented sheep. Crumbs will litter your keyboard like scabby snow. I know this because my bum has slowly expanded to the size of a cow.
  • Then birth, the agonising labour. Sweating and cursing to get that baby free from you.Not so dissimilar to the sweating and cursing at the last stages of the first draft. You start shouting at people (my husband in both cases) and you wonder why the hell you bothered in the first place.
  • Then relief. Love. A feeling of satisfaction - achievement perhaps?
  • That's until the sleepless nights kick in. After childbirth, the baby whines and moans. After drafts, it's me whining and moaning as I wait for feedback. I rethink sentences at night, torturing myself, wondering if I did enough.
  • A slow sense of worry claws at you. You wonder if you're actually any good at this, as you plaster the nappy on backwards (yes, I did do that...). Or re-read your book and hate EVERY SINGLE WORD.
  • You look at other writers/mothers. Why do they seem so 'together'. Why are their babies perfect and behave like they should. How do they manage to write so beautifully. Why can't your writing be like that?  
  • The baby is growing, the baby smiles and you feel good again. As you edit, your book is becoming stronger. You re-read a bit you love and feel good again.
  • Someone tells you how beautiful/well behaved your baby is and you glow. A blogger/reader tells you how wonderful your book is and you glow.
  • You look at the finished product with a sense of pride. You want to tell the world about it.This is what you wanted. This is what you must always remind yourself.


I guess the most important thing of all is that either in writing, or in children - or perhaps both, we have left some kind of legacy. Some sort of stick in the ground.
Although as I watch my little boy trying to walk backwards with a cat basket on his head....this could be a very wobbly stick indeed.







0 Comments on The Tale of Two Labours - Eve Ainsworth as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
14. Books vs. Babies!

Writing Life Banner

by

E.C. Myers

me_and_rPeople sometimes talk about books as if they are babies, raised by the author and ultimately sent into the world to make their fortunes. We even wish authors a “happy book birthday” on their publication day! In the last month, I’ve been thinking about the similarities and differences between “book babies” and actual babies, since I’m in the position to compare the two directly; as it happens (as it was meant to happen), my new book and our first baby were both scheduled to debut in the first week of November. :-o

My son turned up a little early, which made the launch of The Silence of Six slightly easier, but it has still been an interesting experience juggling my new life as a father with my life as a writer with a day job. I decided to put books and babies side by side in the chart below. Like books and babies, it’s still a work in progress, and I left a few things out. Do you have anything you would add or disagree with? Let me know in the comments below!

BooksvBabies

(click to embiggen)

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and the public library in Yonkers, New York. He is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning young adult novel Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, as well as numerous short stories. His new novel, The Silence of Six, a thriller about teenage hackers and government conspiracies, is out now from Adaptive Books. You can find traces of him all over the internet, but especially at http://ecmyers.net and on Twitter: @ecmyers.

 

 

 

Add a Comment
15. Welcome to the family by Mary Hoffman & Ros Asquith

welcometothefamilyFascinating and reassuring, thoughtful and funny, Welcome to the Family by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Ros Asquith is a very special book about all sorts of different families and the ways children end up in them. If ever a book was cut and bound with love, this is it.

It’s the perfect book if you’re part of a family with step-parents, adopted siblings, or any sort of family which is not vanilla Mum, Dad and 2.4 kids, and you want your family to see families just like yours in between the pages of a book.

It’s also the perfect book if you are part of a family with Mum, Dad and 2.4 kids and you want to help your kids understand that there’s not just one way of being a family, even if all families do have one very important thing in common: Love.

All sorts of children (and parents) will find themselves in this book; they will see themselves and their family set-ups acknowledged and celebrated without judgement. And as is appropriate of any celebration there’s lots of joy, happiness and humour in both words and pictures. Reassurance that the child is loved and welcomed is the beating heart of this book.

welcometothefamily

A special cuddly teddy bear provides commentary at different points in the text, allowing children to feel ok if what they’re reading is new or surprising for them. Sibling rivalry, anxiety and the difficulties which can arise in any family are also mentioned; this remains a realistic, not a sugar-coated view of family life, and it’s all the more comforting for that.

Whilst I adore this book more than I have found easy to say (I’ve drafted this review many times trying to find just mix of exuberance and professionalism), I think it worth pointing out that although all sorts of families are included, they are all core, nuclear families ie parents and children. No explicit mention is made of aunts and uncles, grandparents or cousins, and yet these people too are very important parts of many families.

Sharing this book (or letting your child discover it for themselves) is an easy and enjoyable way to introduce your primary school aged kids to everything from IVF babies to the fact that some kids are brought up by two Dads. It’s honest, welcoming text is brilliantly brought to life by spirited illustrations. It’s unpatronising, unthreatening approach is a breath of fresh air. Simply put, this is an outstanding book, a book that fights evil and ignorance with joy, love and respect.

*************

Inspired by Welcome to the Family we made a set of family puppets.

familypuppets

We started by taking a load of photos of each other, with our faces showing different sorts of expressions. I cropped our heads out and resized them so they were only 1.5-2 cm tall, before printing them out.

faces

(Alternatively you could also go to a passport photo booth and get have fun there, coming home with strips of faces.)

Next we drew bodies and clothing. I gave the kids pieces of paper between 10 and 15 cm long and encouraged them to draw their bodies/clothes to fill the space; if your printed head is about 2 cm big, you’ll need the bodies to be between 10 and 15 cm long if you want them to be approximately in proportion to the heads. The kids found the scale issue a little difficult to begin with, but it definitely helped to give them rectangles of paper approximately the right size, rather than big sheets of paper.

We cut out the heads and bodies and stuck them onto wooden barbecue skewers using label stickers, but you could use tape.

familypuppets2

Now we were ready to act out all sorts of family dramas!

familypuppets3

Whilst making our family puppets we listened to:

  • Love Makes a Family by Two of a Kind. In some ways the perfect song to match with Welcome to the Family
  • I Have Two Moms by Bria & Chrissy. Not the best music you’ve ever heard, but still potentially a useful song, about a boy with two moms in a same sex relationship.
  • Two Moms by Tom Knight. This one’s actually about step families (lyrics here)
  • Family Time by Ziggy Marley

  • Other activities which could work well alongside reading Welcome to the Family include these:

  • Use the photos from your family puppets to make family cloth dolls – here’s some inspiration from mokru
  • Make a family peekaboo board, like this one from His4Homeschooling. I think this would be a lovely thing for an older sibling to make for their younger brother or sister.
  • Draw up a family tree. This post from Sun Scholasr has lots of different ideas.
  • What are your favourite books about families?

    Disclosure: I was sent a free review copy of Welcome to the Family by the publisher.

    3 Comments on Welcome to the family by Mary Hoffman & Ros Asquith, last added: 10/2/2014
    Display Comments Add a Comment
    16. Open Wide! Stephen Krensky & James Burks

    Book: Open Wide!
    Author: Stephen Krensky
    Illustrator: James Burks
    Pages: 14
    Age Range: 1-4

    Open Wide! is a preschooler-friendly upcoming board book about the challenges of getting a baby to eat, and the lengths that parents will go to. A mom and dad are trying to get their baby to eat his dinner. He's old enough to be offered a variety of solid foods, and to take a certain delight in refusing to open his mouth. The parents attempt to manipulate him into eating through a combination of words and actions. They have a spoon that projects from a red airplane. They try to entice him with a series of animal comparisons, like:

    "These yummy green beans will make you as big as an elephant."

    We see the mom holding out the spoon/airplane, while the dad pretends to be an elephant. The dad's shadow is in the shape of an elephant, lending an additional visual cue so that readers can see what he's trying to do. My four year old found the goofiness of the dad's animal postures hilarious. He is particularly silly jumping around the kitchen like a bunny. His son, however, is not amused. The baby remains recalcitrant to the very end, when he takes matters into his own hands. As a bonus, this book comes with a paper airplane / spoon holder that can be extracted fro the back cover and folded together.

    Although this book is about a baby, I think that it works for preschoolers, too, because stubborn behavior in regards to eating does not go away when kids learn to walk and talk. When reading with a preschooler, one can leave the punch line of each animal comparison up in the air, and ask the child to fill in the blanks.

    Open Wide! is entertaining for parents, too, because we've all been there. It's quite clear, though not explicitly stated, that these are first-time parents. The cute animal examples are interspersed with statements like: "Sam, we don't have all night." For me, this dance between cajoling and demanding obedience rang true. 

    Burks' illustrations are entertaining, full of funny animal shadows, grouchy baby faces, and increasingly frantic parents. There is enough detail here to make this more a book for preschoolers than for babies, though I'm sure parents will not be able to resist sharing it with their brand-new solid food eaters.

    Open Wide!, with its combination of little kid humor and realistic (ok, slightly exaggerated) depiction of first-time parents, is going on my baby gift list. The "Free Plane Inside" is an added bonus. This one is definitely worth a look. 

    Publisher: Cartwheel Books (@Scholastic
    Publication Date: July 29, 2014
    Source of Book: Advance review copy from the publisher

    FTC Required Disclosure:

    This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

    © 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook

    Add a Comment
    17. The Baby Tree: Sophie Blackall

    Book: The Baby Tree
    Author: Sophie Blackall
    Pages: 40
    Age Range: 4-8

    The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall is a very well-done picture book about a boy's quest to understand where babies come from. After a boy's parents tell him that a new baby will be joining their family, he asks various people in his life if they can tell him where babies come from. They give him answers like "you plant a seed and it grows into a baby tree" and "a stork brings your baby in the night." Finally, when the boy is thoroughly confused, his parents explain it to him properly. The explanation is age appropriate in level of detail and content, I thought: "a seed from their dad ... planted in an egg inside their mom", etc. An afterword suggests sample text for answering other questions that kids may have. That text mentions body parts by name, but this terminology is not in the main text. 

    This book does so many things right. First of all, the illustrations are hilarious. The "baby tree" is shown on the cover. Even better is a picture of a hospital chock-full of babies, with a line of swaddled babies (basically heads atop blankets) somehow upright and making their way out the front door. Other aspects of the illustrations are more subtle, but also pleasing. The babies are a multi-cultural rainbow, also bearing a diverse assortment of blankets. The expressions on the faces of the people the boy asks about babies are priceless. The mailman looks positively sheepish as he scratches his head and says something about eggs. (And oh, the baby face peeking out of a bird's egg is adorable.) 

    The other thing that I like about this book is that even though it's about something (where babies come from), there are lots of other details that are simply true to the life of a preschooler. I know that my daughter is going to laugh when she reads about the boy waking up Dad, then eventually waking up Dad again. And she'll relate to when the boy uses his parents' excitement about the baby to finagle a second bowl of cocopops. Kids have priorities, you know. There are a few tidbits in here for parents, too, as when the teacher gives the briefest possible answer to the boy's question, and then immediately says: "Boys and girls, it's time to wash our brushes." The adult reader can practically hear her thinking: "Because I don't want to get into this discussion here at school." 

    The fact that the boy's parents tell him their news at a time when they have to rush off, leaving him to ask all of these other people, is a tiny bit contrived. But I will cheerfully forgive Sophie Blackall for that. Because this book is wonderful. In the end, it answers children's questions about where babies come from, simply and honestly. But along the way, it provides delightful, whimsical pictures set against realistic depictions of the life of a preschooler. This is a must-purchase for parents expecting another baby, and for libraries. Highly recommended. 

    Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books (@PenguinKids) 
    Publication Date: May 1, 2014
    Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

    FTC Required Disclosure:

    This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

    © 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook

    Add a Comment
    18. Irish Jack the Cat

    What a wonderful little video clip! If you’ve read Catherine Friend’s The Perfect Nest, you’ll enjoy watching this Perfect Nest in Ireland

    babies.model jack.model


    0 Comments on Irish Jack the Cat as of 4/25/2014 1:07:00 PM
    Add a Comment
    19. I Won’t Do That!

    The season my first daughter was born, Kentucky won the NCAA championship. Two years later, along came daughter number two and, lo and behold, UK hoisted another banner. I joked with my lovely wife at the time that with all of the rich basketball fanatics in my home state, we could surely find a patron who would sponsor future babies if Kentucky kept cutting down nets. Alas, no such luck with numbers three and four.

    Kentucky_Wallpaper

    You’d have to know my wife, though. She loves babies. She would have started looking for real estate in Lexington had they won with our third. Her baby wanter gets turned on just by the smell of hospital soap. If she gets to hold one, I practically have to pry the child out of her hands. I came home not too long ago and she was holding a baby I had never seen with a contented smile on her face. I looked around…no one else in the house. For the briefest of moments I truly thought she had finally stolen one. (It turned out we were babysitting a teacher’s baby for a night.) Me, I like ‘em okay. I liked watching a game with one sleeping on my chest, but they always felt too fragile in my oversized mitts. I preferred the toddler years where we could wrestle and play.

    Much to my delight, my beloved Wildcats have made it to the Final Four again this year. I said at the outset of the tourney that I wouldn’t be surprised if they got beat in the first round and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won it all. It’s been just that type of up and down year. I don’t keep up with sports like I used to, but I still watch my Cats when I can.

    I’m sorry Cats. I love you and want you to win with all of my heart. But my baby days are behind me. I won’t do that!

    (A little Meatloaf just for fun!)

     

    Good luck to the Wildcats this weekend. I hope you cut the nets down on Monday. You just have to do it without my progeny this time.

     

    Speaking of my progeny, I was set to post this yesterday until we got news related to the health of our youngest. We haven’t gotten an exact diagnosis yet, but have further tests next week. I appreciate the prayers and words of affirmation from my friends here. We’re hanging in there and she has meds now to make her feel better…  


    10 Comments on I Won’t Do That!, last added: 4/4/2014
    Display Comments Add a Comment
    20. Oh Baby!

    Where did you come from, baby dear?
    Out of the Everywhere and into here.
    ~George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind

    baby rattle
    I’ve been working a lot on middle grade art lately. I really like the preteen quirkiness, but baby books are fun to draw too.
    So I’ve decided to also build up my younger portfolio as well.
    Basically… I like to work in all areas.

    Stay tuned!

    0 Comments on Oh Baby! as of 10/24/2013 12:50:00 PM
    Add a Comment
    21. Iron Man is semi-nude in new Secret Origin teaser

    It has been suggested to me that running Big Two teasers as news is destroying the very fabric of comics; however, when they are a cute, clever Image, I reserve the right to run them. This refers to some yet to be revealed storyline involving the character Iron Man, as far as I can make out.

    2 Comments on Iron Man is semi-nude in new Secret Origin teaser, last added: 2/10/2013
    Display Comments Add a Comment
    22. Baby City: Lazy Little Loafers

    Title: Lazy Little Loafers
    Author: Susan Orlean
    Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
    32 Pages
    Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
    Publ. Date: Oct. 1, 2008

    The narrator of this book is really on to something. She wonders why babies aren't doing anything more productive than pushing strollers and elevator buttons (both activities which are are more likely to annoy than improve the  lives of those around them.) Babies, she declares are just moochers. Worst of all, they get to all the things she wants to do, except she is required to go to school instead!

    Karas' illustrations of a girl walking through the city with her (very stylish) mom and baby sibling bring Orlean's story to life. [Orlean is the author of the grown-up book, The Orchid Thief, which was the inspiration for the very bizarre move, Adaptation.]  Our narrator sees babies everywhere, from billboards to the park and the City is the natural choice if you are looking for a location that can be easily and realistically packed full of infants. Indeed, the illustrations reminded me of the heavily tot-populated nabes of the Upper West Side and Park Slope in New York City. (A Central Park hot dog vendor in a park scene reveals that the location is NYC).

    This is a cute book and would be a nice choice for older siblings who frequently whine about why they don't get to do what their younger counterparts get to do. (Not that I know anyone like that....) But be warned, the book doesn't answer that question!

    Big Kid says: That is Central Park.
    Little Kid says: What's a "loafer"?

    Want More?
    Read the backstory at Susan Orlean's website.
    Watch a video of Orleans talking about the book on The Warren Report.
    Visit G. Brian Karas' website.

    3 Comments on Baby City: Lazy Little Loafers, last added: 1/31/2013
    Display Comments Add a Comment
    23. Heavenly Days

    Yesterday was a heavenly day!  Hub and I got our granddaughter to ourselves for almost four hours.  Such a pretty, smart, funny and just perfect little girl!!  How very, very lucky we - her parents and grandparents - are.

    So, when I saw this video posted over on GottaBook, I had to share it.  Every child is beautiful.  Every parent feels challenged.  But some of us have been "blessed" with more challenges than others.  My heart goes out to parents with differently-abled children and I doff my virtual hat to them in respect.


    Cherish each joyful moment no matter how fleeting.  Fill your memories with those patches of brightness to carry you through any long dark days.  Love, peace and courage to parents everywhere.

    2 Comments on Heavenly Days, last added: 9/4/2012
    Display Comments Add a Comment
    24. Baby Can Bounce!: Bouncing into a Shop Near You...


    Hurray! Baby Can Bounce!, my new baby book and the sequel to Baby Goes Baaaaa! is now out.


    The bold baby animal illustrations are designed specifically to catch the eye of babies from 1- 3 yrs, but I've worked hard to try and make sure that both books are also a funny read for the poor parents (some baby books can be a little basic in content, so gruelling on the 50th repetition...). I wanted mine to be fun to read aloud and easy to share with baby again and again. 


    I got the idea for Baby Goes Baaaaa! from noticing that many of my friend's baby's loved making animal noises. I knew that phonics was very important for early language development and learning, so created a book to help readers practise the all the different sounds that all babies enjoy: educational and fun!

    0 Comments on Baby Can Bounce!: Bouncing into a Shop Near You... as of 1/1/1900
    Add a Comment
    25. Lovable Babies...and Wee Folk

    Sketch washes of the Wee folk....

    0 Comments on Lovable Babies...and Wee Folk as of 1/1/1900
    Add a Comment

    View Next 25 Posts