Laugh-Out-Loud Baby

by Tony Johnston, Stephen Gammell (Illustrator)

Overview

From Caldecott Medalist Stephen Gammell and beloved writer Tony Johnston, this joyous picture book celebrates the sound of a baby’s laughter.

The family gathers round to hear the sweet sound of the new baby’s sweet laugh! But just because everyone has gathered doesn’t mean the baby’s ready. When the moment finally comes, the sound makes everyone else laugh too—aunts, uncles, cousins, and even great-grandma. It seems no one can resist the sound of baby’s laugh. And who would want to?
With simple, endearing text and Stephen Gammell’s unmistakable art, this tribute to the joy a young child’s laughter will quickly become a family favorite.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442413801
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date:	09/04/2012
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	447,248
Product dimensions:	9.52(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tony Johnston is the award-winning author of more than 100 beloved children’s books. She lives with her family in San Marino, California, where she grew up.

Stephen Gammell is the beloved illustrator of more than fifty books for children, including Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, which received the Caldecott Medal, and two Caldecott Honor Books: The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant, Where the Buffaloes Begin by Olaf Baker, and The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate Our School by Judy Sierra. Mr. Gammell lives with his wife, Linda, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

A baby’s inaugural laugh—“That small spill of happiness,” as Johnston (Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea) felicitously puts it—is so infectiously joyful that it makes everyone in the tyke’s rural, tumbledown community come running. But laughing on demand is clearly not baby’s thing—even when visitors try “smiling like pumpkins” and the seemingly surefire “coochy-coo.” What will it take to get the giggles going again? Unfortunately, both the question and its answer fall flat. Johnston’s rustic lyricism is well matched to Gammell’s (Mudkin) luminous mixed-media illustrations, which portray an entire town of quirky personalities (the baby’s father sports a top hat and a ponytail, and thrift shop ensembles prevail among his friends and neighbors); there’s an undeniable mood of genial comic chaos. But the story feels woolly and unfocused—it’s one of those books that forces readers to flip the pages backward to keep track of what’s happening. Even more critically, the grownups’ desire to make the baby laugh one more time never translates into narrative momentum or comic urgency. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Aren’t babies a wonder?” Johnston and Caldecott Award–winning Gammell (
Song and Dance Man, 1988) capture the joy of hearing a baby laugh for the very first time. When a little boy—whose drooping pants reveal an adorable baby crack—laughs out loud, the family stands “stock-still” to listen to the sweet noise. Mama suggests a “Laugh-Out-Loud Party” so that aunts, grandpas, cousins, and neighbors can get in on the miracle, and each tries to set the baby off with snorts and giggles of his or her own. Of course, babies don’t perform on demand, and Baby chuckles in his own time (but when he does, “Whoopee-Doodles! Our baby LAUGHED!”). Johnston’s rollicking text is full of poignant phrases—“and into that quiet rang a little mirthful sound”—and plenty of jolly guffaws, while Gammell’s signature watercolor, pencil, and pastel illustrations feature a quirky family from another era living in a crooked clapboard house brimming with love. An author’s note points out that the Navajo celebrate a child’s first laugh with a ceremony. Sharing this with a child can’t help but provoke . . . well, you know.


HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY:
It’s a pretty bang-up team: Johnston has more than 100 books under her belt, while Gammell has won both the Caldecott Medal and two Caldecott Honors.

— Booklist, July 1, 2012

Written by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Aren’t babies a wonder?” Johnston and Caldecott Award–winning Gammell (

Song and Dance Man, 1988) capture the joy of hearing a baby laugh for the very first time. When a little boy—whose drooping pants reveal an adorable baby crack—laughs out loud, the family stands “stock-still” to listen to the sweet noise. Mama suggests a “Laugh-Out-Loud Party” so that aunts, grandpas, cousins, and neighbors can get in on the miracle, and each tries to set the baby off with snorts and giggles of his or her own. Of course, babies don’t perform on demand, and Baby chuckles in his own time (but when he does, “Whoopee-Doodles! Our baby LAUGHED!”). Johnston’s rollicking text is full of poignant phrases—“and into that quiet rang a little mirthful sound”—and plenty of jolly guffaws, while Gammell’s signature watercolor, pencil, and pastel illustrations feature a quirky family from another era living in a crooked clapboard house brimming with love. An author’s note points out that the Navajo celebrate a child’s first laugh with a ceremony. Sharing this with a child can’t help but provoke . . . well, you know.

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY:

It’s a pretty bang-up team: Johnston has more than 100 books under her belt, while Gammell has won both the Caldecott Medal and two Caldecott Honors.

— Booklist, July 1, 2012

From the Publisher

Johnston captures the beauty of a baby's first laugh and a family's subsequent joy in this sweet celebration of one of life's loveliest milestones. On a crisp, winter's day, a baby laughs. "That small spill of happiness / went rippling through the house-- / a dazzle, a jazzle, a shine." To share in this wondrous event, relatives and neighbors gather, but no amount of prompting can get this babe to giggle again. Later, with bellies full of food and conversation, "into a slot of silence… / ...rang a little mirthful sound," causing more hilarity to ensue until the guests finally depart into the soft, falling snow. Tender and exuberant, playful and poignant, the text perfectly honors this merry occasion. Unfortunately, Gammell's uniformly chaotic artwork is a poor match. Almost the full color spectrum is represented in each spread, with black used mainly to delineate shapes rather than shadows, thus hindering readers' ability to perceive depth and focus. A few artistic choices also detract from the text, such as the baby's derriere-exposing pants (cute the first time, but distracting the fourth); the needless sloppiness of the guests (spilled dishes and drinks); and a reappearing "LOL" sign (when other indicators point to an era gone by). Moreover, despite the author's note on the Navajo First Laugh Ceremony, there are no appropriate ethnic elements in the illustrations. Enjoy it for the delicious, read-aloud text, but hide the illustrations. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews