Baby Love: An Affectionate Miscellany [Hardcover]

Rachael Hale (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2008

It is the nature of babies to be in bliss. --Deepak Chopra

Award-winning photographer Rachael Hale turns her lens on a new subject, babies.

Rachael Hale's luminous four-color photography captures the essence of babies napping, laughing, and mugging for the camera. Whether the babies are splashing happily in the bath, dozing on the sofa, or gazing at the camera with wide-eyed rapture, Hale's images focus on the infants themselves, and her lens captures the inner soul, humanity, and character of each little one.

Baby Love combines more than 100 expressive baby portraits with a mixture of poetry and verse, along with surprising facts and historical details that celebrate all things baby. Readers will learn where birthdays originated and how different countries around the globe celebrate the annual milestone, as well as additional baby-inspired facts and trivia. Also included are lists of the top boy and girl names to help inspire moms--and dads-to-be.

Hale has been designated as a Master of Photography at the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Awards and received her fellowship-the highest accolade a New Zealand photographer can achieve--in 2000.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Photographer and bestselling author Rachael Hale is one of the world's most popular and successful photographers. Her endearing images have been published on greeting cards, calendars, posters, and stationery around the world, and her books have sold over 2.5 million copies in 11 languages.

Born and raised in New Zealand, Rachael now lives in the south of France with her husband Andrew and their Dalmatian Boxer-cross named Kizzie.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740776126
• ISBN-13: 978-0740776120
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Children

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Images of Cute Babies, December 24, 2008

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Baby Love: An Affectionate Miscellany (Hardcover)

This coffee table photo book is a collection of baby photos - all under one year old. There are the newest of infants as well as toddlers who can hold themselves up. Along with the photos are a collection of phrases, rhymes and stories about babies throughout history.

Babies are naturally cute, of course, but Rachel has done a great job of making them even more cute. You have babies in blankets, babies in suds, babies dressed up and babies au natural.

A few of the shots are very obviously staged, and I happen to like those the least - those make the babies look like models on a runway. I really like the ones that look like natural babies - like images any mom could have taken of their own darling. I like the ones with the hair askew, the face crinkled, the baby being content in its own baby world. My favorite picture is of the baby with the two-horn hat. The baby's smile seems to say, "I am me!"

I also enjoy the ones where there are several shots of the same infant, showing different facets of their personality. Babies are complex and wonderful, and the sequence-shots really help to demonstrate that.

If I have a complaint about the book (besides the staged photos) it is that some make me a bit nervous about the baby's safety. I realize that there are people off-camera keeping an eye on things, but even so the cover shot concerns me, with the baby in the hard porcelain tub. I can just imagine the soapy tyke slipping and bashing himself. Ditto for the baby on the chair. The hammock one especially worries me. It doesn't give me a sense of "peace" looking at that image.

Still, those are minor complaints in a book that is a lot of fun to read through.

Well recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, November 7, 2010

By 

Bruce D. Sawle "Bruce Sawle" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Baby Love: An Affectionate Miscellany (Hardcover)

If I could give 10 stars I would this book is simply one of the finest displays of inphant phtography I have seen. The photos are stunningly beautiful, with a element of fun and realism.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, June 8, 2009

By 

C. Wright - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Baby Love: An Affectionate Miscellany (Hardcover)

I bought this book for a couple in our family at Christmas who had announced a pregnancy that we were all having some mixed feelings about. Just looking at the beautiful pictures and captions helped us all remember how precious that new little life will be!