The Babies are Landing [Hardcover]

Joan Margolith (Author), Linda Bronson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

Welcome newborns into the world with this sweet celebratory poem. Accompanied by playful, bright illustrations and complete with a bookplate to fill in name, date, and place of birth, this tender little picturebook is the perfect shower gift to welcome a new baby.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Babies don't need the stork to facilitate their arrivalAthey simply fall gently to earth in baskets, like raindropsAaccording to this compact gift book (the frontispiece provides a space to write a baby's name and arrival date). "Every baby lands/ in somebody's arms/ In the roar of a city/ or the hush of a farm." With a mixture of full-bleed, double-page spreads and neatly framed square compositions, Bronson (Crookjaw) depicts infants as sleeping, totemic-looking figures, with perfectly round, apple-cheeked faces peeking out from sausagelike swaddling. Her swooping, curvilinear stylization of adults captures the sublime ecstasy of new parenthood in many cultures and settings: a Native American mother, whose shape echoes that of her teepee, lovingly cradles her child as her braids curl out from her head like two beaming smiles; a father standing outside what appears to be an Italian pastry shop hugs his baby along with four baguettes and a trio of cupcakes. Such parent-child images are eye-catching and comforting. But some children may be troubled by a disconnect between the text and pictures: in the opening pages, some babies do not land in the arms of an adultAin fact, an island baby and a desert baby look rather lonely and marooned. All ages. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-This picture book depicts babies in walnut shell-like baskets, floating through the sky and landing on Earth. They descend into the arms of smiling adults in igloos, tepees, on tropical islands, in fields, deserts, and cities. The tropically colored, abstract oil paintings are replete with rounded stylized images. However, the rhyming text is trite and clich d, e.g., "And it's just as sure/as the nose on your face/That each baby lands/in exactly the right place," and "This baby landed/at the stroke of eleven/Look closely in her eyes/and you might see heaven." A slight, syrupy selection.
Anne Parker, Milton Public Library, MA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811826740
• ISBN-13: 978-0811826747
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,037,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book!!, November 2, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (No. CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Babies are Landing (Hardcover)

We received this boook as a gift and our son loves it! In fact, I love it so much I purchased several copies to give to family and friends who have babies. It makes a great new baby/shower gift!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book!, April 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Babies are Landing (Hardcover)

This would be a great book for anyone you know who has recently adopted a baby. Although it doesn't specifically discuss adoption, it talks about how babies end up in the arms of the people they were meant to be with. Cute book with cheerful illustrations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review- The Babies Are Landing, August 20, 2000

By 

Megan Klingaman (Raleigh, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Babies are Landing (Hardcover)

I love this book... I saw it, flipped though it, and knew I had to get it for my daughter. It's a beautifully written, sweet book and the illustrations are museum quality art. My daughter (1 year old) loves the pictures, the rhymes, and sitting with us and reading this book. HIGHLY recommended-- get it for your own child, or even better, get it for a friend with a new baby. It'll make her happy-cry!