Review - Babies Around the World

Babies Around the World
by Puck
illustrated by Violet Lemay & Graham Fruisen
Date: 2017
Publisher: duopress
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 20
Format: e-book
Source: library

Bonjour! Ça va? Say hello to international babies as you tour the world from morning to nighttime. The journey starts on a sunny day in New York City and ends on a beautiful San Francisco night, with stops in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Cape Town, Cairo, Beijing, and Tokyo. These friendly babies welcome us to their cities with delightful greetings in their original languages (with English translations) in a simple narration that will appeal to any global mini citizen.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I think this is one of those books where the idea is better than the execution. I found this one boring, uninspiring, and kind of confusing. There's no pronunciation guide, so who knows if you're teaching kids the right way to say these greetings?

The selection of countries is also sparse. We get two American greetings, but nothing from Australia (so there are no babies saying "g'day"). I'm sure there are other unique ways of saying these greetings around the world, but this book took the easy route and just picked the most obvious ones.

I'm not impressed.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: n/a
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2.2 out of 5