Please, Baby, Please [Paperback]

Spike Lee (Author), Tonya Lewis Lee (Author), Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: March 21, 2006 | Age Range: 2 and up

Go back to bed,

baby please, baby, please.

Not on your HEAD,

baby baby baby, please!

Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, producer Tonya Lewis Lee, preset a behind-the-scenes look at the chills, spills, and unequivocal thrills of bringing up baby!

Vivid illustrations from celebrated artist Kadir Nelson evoke toddlerhood from sandbox to high chair to crib.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Filmmaker Spike Lee and wife Tonya Lewis Lee join the ranks of other celebrity kids' book writers with their sweet, rhythmic read-along about the endless energy of a toddler blasting through a busy day.

The Lees' diapered dynamo starts early (the VCR reads 3:01 a.m.), with the little girl outlasting her mama sprawled out on the living room floor ("Go back to bed, baby, please, baby, please"). A breakfast of upturned Cheerios follows a few hours later ("Not on your HEAD, baby baby baby, please!"), then play time, a trip to the playground, dinner, and a bath ("Please don't splash, baby baby, please, baby!"). The fun repetition doesn't change up until the book's sweet close, as the curly-haired tyke somehow can't get to sleep ("Kiss me good night? Mama, Mama, Mama, please").

The Lees have as much or more success than their high-profile counterparts (Jerry Seinfeld: Halloween, John Lithgow: Marsupial Sue; and Jamie Lee Curtis: I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem), thanks in large part to their excellent choice of illustrator Kadir Nelson, whose work has appeared everywhere from Sports Illustrated to the New Yorker. Just as he did with Will Smith's Just the Two of Us, Nelson uses his enormous talent to inject energy and emotion into each richly colored, Rockwellian spread. (Baby to preschool) --Paul Hughes --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Many grownups will recognize the title as the comic carnal plea uttered by Lee (as Mars Blackmon) in his 1986 film, She's Gotta Have It. Now, the filmmaker and his wife/co-author, who have two children, have turned those words into a G-rated parental entreaty-directed at an inexhaustible toddler. "Go back to bed,/ baby, please, baby, please./ Not on your head,/ baby baby baby, please!" The large typography seems to writhe in vain supplication. The cherubic toddler, whose chocolate ringlets circle her head like restless electrons, tests her parents' patience in myriad ways, and Nelson (Just the Two of Us) has a knack for picking just the right angle. For the first of his handsome, burnished-toned acrylic spreads, readers share a toddler's eye-view. In the foreground are the feet of the prone, exhausted mother, a plastic ring from a stacking toy hanging from her left big toe, as a very wide awake baby plays horsey on her stomach. The clock on the VCR reads 3:01 a.m., and a bedtime video playing on the TV clearly makes no impact whatsoever. A tantrum when it's time to leave the playground, plus a chaotic meal and bath occasion other imploring phrases from the parents, whose presence Nelson suggests with just a foot or an arm outstretched to the youngster. But at book's end, the tables are turned: "Kiss me good night?/ Mama, Mama, Mama, please," says the girl, standing in the doorway of her mom and dad's room. The final wordless picture, a loving embrace, leaves no doubt of who loves this baby. Ages 2-5.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Age Range: 2 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (March 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689834578
• ISBN-13: 978-0689834578
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.2 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Family Life > New Baby

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My kids love this book! October 19, 2002

By Brett Cooper

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Rarely does my 2-year old sit through a reading of a whole book. This one he does! And my 3-year old as well. They love chanting "Please, baby, please!" and the other variations of that phrase throughout the book. The story is fun and something that both my kids and I can relate to - an adorable toddler getting into trouble. The combination of excellent writing and beautiful illustrations make this a huge hit with my family!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Again, Please, Mommy, Please? June 3, 2003

By Tiare Solorzano

Format:Hardcover

This book has sweet, rhyming text with an Afican American flavor (Keep off the wall, please, baby, please!). The illustrations are incredibly realistic, and I especially appreciate the endearing expressions on the toddler in this story. Her expressions of delight, stubborn defiance, and wonder are familiar to anyone who has ever loved or parented a one-year old. Best of all, my own children (ages 1 1/2 and 3 1/2) love this story and ask to read it again and again (Please, Mommy, please!). If your own library lacks quality literature featuring ethnically diverse main characters, I highly recommend this one.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Year Old Attention Grabber January 21, 2003

By Sheridan Smith

Format:Hardcover

My two-year old daughter and four year old nephew love this book! There are items to count, colors to name, and of course the wonderful rythym of "please, baby, please." The illustrations are wonderful! The child in the picture could easily be a boy or girl, and the daily routines of the child in the book are similar to any toddler child's busy day. I will share this book for a long time!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Toddler Must March 1, 2004

By "heymargi"

Format:Hardcover

The best illustrations in any baby book we own! Kadir Nelson(the illustrator) has depicted the toddler perfectly. From the teasing, to the resisting, to the fun loving humans they are. I recognized my own fair, red headed daughter in the main character, an African American child. This book is for anyone who has a toddler or toddler to be!
The words are pleadings from the parents of this little girl, who want her to eat her peas, to not eat the sand, and to not be such a tease, among all the other things our toddlers do and don't do.
The words flow from page to page with beautiful simplicity.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book! December 31, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Of the dozen or so books my book-loving two-year-old got for Christmas, this is by far his favorite. I think it's the sweetest, funniest book I've seen in a long time! The words are simple but introduce concepts of rhythm and repetition without being obvious about it, and the illustrations are just fantastic.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Love the illustrations! September 16, 2003

By Rachel Andrews

Format:Hardcover

The artwork is fantastic in this book. The swirls in the little girls hair just make me happy! The text is simple and very familiar - mommy pleading with her toddler to behave - but in the end we love our little ones don't we? My 2 year old enjoys this book very much, and I am glad to have added to her books with people of other ethnicities.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for African-Americans!! July 7, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is my daughter's (2 yrs old) absolute favorite book! Although it is illustrated for and targeted to African-American children, it was a must-have for us! I was drawn in by the adorable illustration on the cover + I adore the text, how often am I constantly telling my toddler to "keep off the wall?!" This is the first book my daughter reaches for when we sit down to read. The rhyme & beat make the book an untiring pleasure to read! Now that we have read it a million times, my daughter will often "read" it to herself! One of the best things about this book is that my daughter has begun to follow requests with "Please" in her everyday vocabulary! Who knew that when I bought this book 6 months ago that it'd help to teach my daughter manners?! Don't hesitate to buy this book if you are Caucasion or otherwise, it is bound to the best on your bookshelf!

20 of 27 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars negative negative negative September 11, 2006

By byron

Format:Hardcover

This book is beautfully illustrated. And that is the only good thing I have to say about it. It is a terribly negative book. Everything is "don't do this, don't do that!" Babies like to splash in the bathtub, and it is joyful to watch them play, but in this book the baby is told not to splash in the tub. Ditto for stopping to smell the flowers: "Don't be so slow, baby!" My toddler loves looking at the pictures in this book and saying "please, baby, please", but we have changed the tone entirely, and most of the words so that this book is not negative and unpleasant.