Supermodel Cindy Crawford and her young son, Presley, show moms and dads that communication does not begin and end with spoken words. Silly faces, flailing arms, big grins, a fist rubbing an eye--all these gestures and expressions speak volumes when Baby doesn't quite have the words to communicate feelings and needs. And when parents respond to their infants' body language, they are sending a very clear message: "I hear you. I'm here for you. You're safe. I love you."
About Face is a bouncy, playful romp with a valuable ulterior motive: to get parents to follow their intuition when it comes to communicating with their babies--and to encourage children to fall in love with words and other forms of language. Author Ellen Schecter's goofy wordplay ("Let's be GROWL-Y, prowl-y, howl-y, and jowl-y, then share grrreat big bear HUGS when we're done.") make the text amusing for readers, even if the rhymes are somewhat forced at times. Photographer Jade Albert and illustrator Paul Harwood intertwine cute photos of babies (and Crawford) with imaginative pastel designs. (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter
From Publishers Weekly
Supermodel Cindy Crawford along with her toddler son, Presley, and a host of other bright-eyed babies puts her best face forward in this picture book designed to facilitate parent-child bonding through facial expressions. Following a note to parents from Crawford, a bouncy text that sometimes speaks directly to the audience ("Hello nose, hello toes; hello lips like a small soft rose.... About face! Now it's your turn. Can you pucker up and kiss my nose?") and weaves over and around carefully posed photographs embellished with pastel spot illustrations. A few examples convey the unpolished writing (for instance, "A smile's just a frown turned upside down can you do it, too?" puts the emphasis on the frown rather than the upbeat smile), but the greeting-card message nonetheless prevails. Throughout, boldly colored backgrounds and a hand-lettered-style typeface that emphasizes key words in bold capital letters, give the action here an appropriately playful look and feel. New parents, especially those who may lack confidence in their read-aloud, play-along skills, will find this title especially inviting. All ages. (Nov.)benefit Reading Is Fundamental.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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