I Am a Baby

by Bob Shea, Bob Shea (Illustrator)

Overview

From the creator of the mega-popular Dinosaur vs. series comes a hilariously deadpan look at new parenthood—from a baby’s point of view.

I am not sleepy.
I am not sleepy because I am a baby.
Mommy is sleepy.
Mommy is sleepy because I am a baby.

With humor and sympathy, Bob Shea looks at the chaos of life with a baby as amiably narrated by the new arrival. Repeating the mantra (and blithe explanation) “because I am a baby,” the tiny narrator leads us through scenes of exhaustion, grumpiness, squishy diapers, spilled milk, cowering kittens, and chubby overfed pups (oopsie!). Playing against the simple, matter-of-fact text are freewheeling illustrations of mess and mayhem, in which the grown-ups’ exaggerated body language is sure to send older children into fits of giggles. With its endearing, unabashedly self-pleased star, I Am a Baby will find a place at showers, in nurseries, on parents’ shelves, and in the hands of appreciative big siblings, as it celebrates the changes a little one brings, at once challenging and full of love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536218329
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	530,958
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Bob Shea is the author, illustrator, or author-illustrator of many well-loved picture books and chapter books, including the Ballet Cat and Dinosaur vs. series as well as Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great; Unicorn Is Maybe Not So Great After All; Crash, Splash, Moo!; and Who Wet My Pants?, which was illustrated by Zacharia OHora. Bob Shea’s characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr., Playhouse Disney, and PBS KIDS. He lives in Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

03/21/2022

Shea offers a slyly humorous take on life with a newborn in this wry picture book, pitched as much to parents as to kids. Clad in a blue sleeper and narrating via simple observations, a goldenrod-skinned baby obliviously repeats self-centered explanations of cause and effect. “Mommy is sleepy/ because I am a baby,” reads an early line as an exhausted mother, also portrayed with goldenrod skin, narrowly keeps the child from falling headfirst off the bed. “Daddy is clumsy,” is the announcement as the tan-hued father slips on a toy car. Similarly, Kitty’s “hiding” status, Mommy’s thirst (quenched with water and wine), and Grandma’s smiles are all reasoned as resulting “because I am a baby.” Digital drawings with a retro vibe contrast the infant’s gleeful disruptions with the haggard expressions of the beleaguered parents—humorously, if accurately, picturing the mixture of exhaustion and joy that defines early parenthood. Ages 2–5. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Shea offers a slyly humorous take on life with a newborn in this wry picture book, pitched as much to parents as to kids. . . . Digital drawings with a retro vibe contrast the infant’s gleeful disruptions with the haggard expressions of the beleaguered parents—humorously, if accurately, picturing the mixture of exhaustion and joy that defines early parenthood.
—Publishers Weekly

This egocentric yet lovable infant will strike a chord with exhausted new parents, and emerging readers will appreciate the repetitive, deadpan text. A welcome addition to baby storytimes.
—Booklist

The saying goes that eternity is two people and a ham. For a young family, a better definition might be two new parents and a new baby. . . . Bob Shea captures the exhausting joy of this little eternity in ‘I Am a Baby,’ a picture book that’s likely to be enjoyed even more by parents than by children ages 2-5. . . . Like any ordinary unremitting day with a real baby, this light, humorous story circles around and comes back by the end almost to where it began. The endpapers of ‘I Am a Baby,’ meanwhile, are like two extra books in themselves.
—The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher