Alberta

Alberta by Tania Cox, illustrated by Janine Dawson (Working Title Press)

RRP PB $14.99

ISBN 9781921504037

Reviewed by Vicki Thornton

Who can’t help but love Alberta? Nothing she does is small. From snowballs to fish, everything is big, especially her personality. So when her parents tell her that she soon will be a big sister, she is very excited. She waits, impatiently…. only to be quite disappointed when the eggs arrive. They are not big…they are not even large…. they are… little.

When Alberta is left in charge of the eggs, she soon discovers that being a BIG sister is a very important job. ‘Yipppeeeeeee!’ she cheers knowing the eggs are safe after tricking a hungry egg thief.  

When the eggs do hatch, Alberta can’t help but notice that the babies are rather, well, little.

So very, very little that Alberta suddenly felt like a very, very BIG sister!

Her heart skipped two tiny beats.

Then Alberta opened her flippers wide…

and hugged her little sisters...in a very Alberta way.

With delicate and soft pen and ink and watercolour illustrations this lovely story is a great way for parents to introduce a child into the idea of having a baby brother or sister.

Hey Baby!

Hey Baby! by Corinne Fenton (black dog books)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 9781922179180
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Hey Baby! celebrates the uniqueness of every living being with the focus on babies -animal and human.  Using photographed images and beginning from the cover depicting a racoon and her baby, every picture is a testimony to the singularity of new life and its precious worth.

The impressive images include a baby duck standing upright in her shell with the head and legs sticking out; the profoundly gentle and moving image of a baby gorilla lying on its mother’s back with its eyes closed in utter peace and contentment, and the delightful picture of a baby seal. There are twenty-eight pictures in all, not including the ones on the covers.

Coloured text in large font accents the important words such as ‘unique’ and ‘precious’, and the facial and body features that mothers delight in and gush about. This is a book children and adults will love and take pleasure in sharing. It will be reopened time and time again.