Walk On!: A Guide for Babies of All Ages

by Marla Frazee, Marla Frazee (Illustrator)

Overview

Trying something new is never easy. Like walking, for instance. But aren't you sick of sitting on your bottom day in and day out? Hasn't lying around all the time become a little bit boring? This handy guide, both practical and inspirational, is here to help. With useful tips, common pitfalls, and Marla Frazee's adorable illustrations, this book is perfect for anyone—from a baby to a graduate to a grown-up—who's about to take a scary first step.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152055738
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/01/2006
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,114,984
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

MARLA FRAZEE has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, some of which she also wrote. Her picture book A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was named a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the author and illustrator of Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages; Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert; Roller Coaster; and Hush, Little Baby. She is the illustrator of Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox, and more. Marla Frazee lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her website at www.marlafrazee.com.  

MARLA FRAZEE has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, some of which she also wrote. Her picture book A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was named a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the author and illustrator of Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages; Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert; Roller Coaster; and Hush, Little Baby. She is the illustrator of Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox, and more. Marla Frazee lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her website at www.marlafrazee.com.  

What People are Saying About This

New York Times Book Review

"''Walk On!'' illustrates the world from the perspective of a not-yet walking baby.  Chairs loom impossibly tall.  The living room is a yellow haze punctuated by items of importance in full color: ball, block, rattle.  But the witty teacher's voice Frazee adopts here makes the process of learning to walk into somethingmore... In the end, ''Walk On!'' seems to be less about the baby's view than about providing life lesson's for people reaching other milestones, on the order of Dr. Seuss'' "Oh the Places You'll Go!''  Those readers should love it..."  --New York Times Book Review (August 13, 2006)

Editorial Reviews

*"Frazee's saucy invitation to all generations to 'walk on' has just enough kick and sass to incite action in babies (and grown-ups) everywhere."—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"This clever picture book (dedicated to Frazee's college-bound son) sure offers a hipper alternative to Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go! for that recent graduate in your life."—The Horn Book Magazine



—

From the Publisher

"'Walk On!' illustrates the world from the perspective of a not-yet walking baby. Chairs loom impossibly tall. The living room is a yellow haze punctuated by items of importance in full color: ball, block, rattle. But the witty teacher's voice Frazee adopts here makes the process of learning to walk into somethingmore... In the end, 'Walk On!' seems to be less about the baby's view than about providing life lesson's for people reaching other milestones, on the order of Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go!' Those readers should love it..." --New York Times Book Review (August 13, 2006)

New York Times Book Review

Frazee (Roller Coaster) kicks off a hilarious how-to with these trenchant questions: "Is sitting there on your bottom getting boring? Has lying around all the time become entirely unacceptable?" It's a pep talk for those ready to leave crawling behind (and for those who may need a refresher). Her exemplar is an authentically determined Everybaby of indeterminate sex, sporting an enormous polka-dotted diaper, with two dots for eyes and a single curlicue of hair. As the little one tentatively moves towards ambulatory independence, Frazee offers advice ranging from tongue-in-cheek tips (a chair is good to pull up on; a potted cactus is not) to wry Zen wisdom ("Feel the sway, but don't let it tip you over") to cheekily upbeat encouragement (it's okay to cry after the first fall; then check to see "if your diaper is weighing you down.... Fix whatever you can before you start over"). The book is as handsome as it is funny, with page after page of elegantly drafted spot illustrations (one sly visual aside portrays the living room layout as a forbidding, garishly yellow terrain). Of course, much of the humor will fly right by the nine- to 18-month-old crowd, but Frazee has a bigger audience in mind: eager, anxious parents-both expectant and newly anointed-and impatient older siblings. She'll have no trouble winning them over. All ages. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

*"Frazee's saucy invitation to all generations to ''walk on'' has just enough kick and sass to incite action in babies (and grown-ups) everywhere."

Kirkus Reviews

PreS-Gr 1-In this how-to for little ones, a baby learns to walk for the first time. Frazee gives suggestions like, "Get a grip. Pull yourself up. Stand." She notes that it is "very common to fall down" on the first try and encourages crying "if it helps." By the end of the book, the child is taking wobbly and independent steps and the triumphant last lines read, "Baby, you are walking! Beautiful." The pencil-and-gouache art has the delightful feel of self-help pamphlets from an earlier era. The baby, looking like a very young Tintin, stands out against the spacious cream-colored backgrounds with monochrome pencil drawings of familiar objects. Frazee captures the body language and facial expressions of this blossoming toddler with knowing precision. This is one of those rare books that speaks to crawling and walking babies who like to look at pictures of creatures like themselves, preschoolers who enjoy stories about what they were like when they were "little," and older children and adults who will appreciate the wry humor. These could be the first steps in any milestone, such as sleeping in a big kid's bed or starting school.-Rachel G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal