Hush, Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures [Hardcover]

Marla Frazee (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

A celebrated illustrator reinvents a familiar lullaby with this story of a baby who will not stop crying and a big sister who tries to help. Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird. . . . A baby who howls all night, parents at their wits’ end, a peddler whose wagon is filled with toys and animals, and a big sister who accidentally-on-purpose starts it all--these are the players in this delightful and original interpretation of a timeless folk tune. Marla Frazee’s story-in-pictures is a perfect lullaby for all restless babies and their exhausted, loving families.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Frazee's (The Seven Silly Eaters) dark but nimble illustrations flesh out more of a story line for the old folk song, with mixed results. A scowling older sister starts the baby crying by abruptly shoving its cradleAa clever, tangy interpretationAand the family spends the rest of the book trying to placate the infant. Cast as Appalachians of yore, the characters include a bonneted mother, a burly father, the barefoot, gap-toothed sister and a bushy-bearded peddler. The words of the song are blazoned across the bottom of the spreads in large type, and the pictures, heavily shaded with black pencil and brightened somewhat with colored inks, often appear as multi-panel sequences. Vignettes on one spread, for example, show the girl whispering to the father, then leading him to the peddler's wagon, then buying a mockingbird, then carrying it home. A few scenes of the father and daughter are beautifully expressive: her poses, leaning against him or happily perched on his shoulders, are perfectly natural, as is a scene in which the parents exchange woeful glances over the baby's head. But a few too many exaggerated gestures and bugged eyes send the illustrations from the animated toward the cartoonish, and while the style is very deliberate, the gloomy tones and the hyped-up, caricatured figures sit uneasily together. All ages. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-This creative interpretation has all of the elements of a perfect picture book: playful illustrations that extend the text dramatically and tell an additional story all their own; an attractive page layout that makes it ideal for use in a storyhour; and a satisfying conclusion that brings the story back to its beginning-a sleeping baby. Even before the text begins, a 19th-century rural family is shown returning home as the sun goes down, the couple walking ahead with a sleeping baby while their older daughter lags behind, intrigued by a peddler's cartload of goods. When they reach their cabin, the girl, jealous of the attention lavished on her young sibling, makes her displeasure clear by giving the cradle a shove. The resulting howls from the now-awake infant set in motion a series of visits to the peddler's wagon, where the youngster persuades her father to buy, one by one, the familiar items mentioned in the song. But does she really hope such items as a looking glass and a puppy will hush the crying child, or does she have her eye on them for herself? The story is rendered in acrylic artist's ink and black Prismacolor pencil, mostly in two-page spreads with one line of the song in large type across the bottom. The complete lyrics, with musical accompaniment, are appended. Even libraries with other picture-book versions of this song in their collections will want to add this unique, imaginative interpretation.
Ginny Gustin, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (August 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152014292
• ISBN-13: 978-0152014292
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,604,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic song will now be a classic picture book too, September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hush, Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures (Hardcover)

What a super smart interpretation of a favorite old folk song! Marla Frazee's warm, funny and beautifully detailed illustrations (she's been a big favorite in our house since THE SEVEN SILLY EATERS) make us all, grown-ups included, want to "sing it" again and again.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We love this book!, June 2, 2000

By 

Carol McCardell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hush, Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures (Hardcover)

If you like to sing to your child, this book is a must have! Hush Little Baby just arrived on our doorstop today and immediately my 2 1/2 year old Wendy wanted me to sing it twice over. After I had gone on to another book, she picked up this book and 'read' it to herself! I have always gotten stuck beyond the second rhyme with this song and usually sang myself into a corner, trying to make up the rest. Finally with the song in print, I can finish this song.

Marla Frazee's illustrations are lavish with details, and each one truely is a work of art. The jacket mentioned that she did some research in the hills of West Virginia, at Fort New Salem to regain the feel of this lullaby's Applachian roots. The faces of the characters are so realistic for any family trying ANYTHING to calm a baby down so that everyone can get some sleep. And, true to form, the baby is calmed, just in time to greet the dawning sun.

Older siblings with a new baby in the house can particularly relate to this book as the older sister offers everything in a peddlers cart, one by one, to pacify her baby brother (or sister, I can't tell).

The words are 3/4" high with one line of the song for each opening. The pages flip quickly, making this book a good one for a page-turning toddler develping an interest in books. Added bonus, if the parent isn't familiar with the song, the musical score, with all the verses, is printed on the last page.

I have become an instant fan of Marla Frazee's work and will continue to look for more of her books. I am so impressed with this one, it was perfect for us!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great pictures to go with a song that is a real favorite, January 29, 2000

By 

Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hush, Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures (Hardcover)

My older son just loves the Hush Little Baby lullaby, and so this book was a must for us. We just love the pictures! The artist is great at showing emotions on faces. You can really tell how everyone is feeling. I think this book would be a good one for a family expecting a new baby, as it's one of the few books that admits that babies can be tough---they can cry a lot and be hard to comfort---but also shows the whole family working together to try to make the baby happy. It would set a great tone for the baby to be! Really a nice book.