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Shoe Baby
Acclaimed author Joyce Dunbar teams up with an exciting new talent — her illustrator daughter, Polly — for this singsong tale of a baby who takes to the sea, the air, and the shops — in a shoe!
There once was a baby
Who lived in a shoe
And had learned how to say,
"How do you do?"
For one adventurous baby, there's no limit to the places you can go when using a shoe as a mode of transportation. Sailing by dolphins, tootling to the zoo, flying with birds, even sipping tea with the queen are all in a day's play — until a noisy one-shoed giant stomps by and a giantess sobs that she's lost her baby, "Boo-hoo-hoo." Is it finally time to shout "peekaboo"?
There once was a baby
Who lived in a shoe
And had learned how to say,
"How do you do?"
For one adventurous baby, there's no limit to the places you can go when using a shoe as a mode of transportation. Sailing by dolphins, tootling to the zoo, flying with birds, even sipping tea with the queen are all in a day's play — until a noisy one-shoed giant stomps by and a giantess sobs that she's lost her baby, "Boo-hoo-hoo." Is it finally time to shout "peekaboo"?
40 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 2005
1 person is currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Dunbar
156 books22 followersJoyce Dunbar is an English author of over seventy children’s books, best known for Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep, This Is The Star, and the Mouse and Mole series. Born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, she studied English at Goldsmiths College before teaching drama until hearing loss led her to write full time in 1989. Her first children’s book appeared when she was 35, followed by works such as Mundo and the Weather-Child, which explored the experiences of a deaf child and earned critical recognition. Her stories have been adapted for stage, television, and interactive media, with Mouse and Mole becoming a 26-part animated series. She has also been an advocate for deaf awareness, cycling across Cuba for charity. Dunbar lives in Norwich.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 20, 2018
How do you do? <3
April 12, 2011
I heard this at story time when our regular librarian was away. I've waited too long to review it though and I barely remember it. Something about a lost baby and a lost giant shoe? If that's right, I remember thinking it odd that the father giant was more concerned about his lost shoe than his lost baby.
October 25, 2016
Reads almost like a nursery rhyme. Dreamlike, baby hops into a shoe and rides it around the world/ universe, finally ending back at home and with better manners. Enjoyed the vibrant, quirky illustrations.
May 22, 2018
"There once was a baby
Who hid in a shoe
And had learned how to say,
'How do you do?'
In a shoe you might think
There is not much to do,
But this very same baby
Went to SEA in that shoe!"
This charming and whimsical picture book is completely different from anything I have seen before, a delight for the eyes from a mother-daughter author-illustrator team. The rhyms and quirky surrealism will definitely appeal to toddlers too.
A fortnight ago, I went to a Nearly New Sale at a primary school near me in Oxford. Everything there is a steal, I got a beautiful babygrow with teddy-bear ears for only 50p, and The Great Penguin Bookchace literary family board game for only £4 complete with all pieces. The books are invariably the greatest bargain of them all, and I am very glad that my husband slipped Shoe Baby into our bursting Ikea bag when I was browsing the books for adults. So far, this is my favourite of the 25 or so books we got on that spree.
This is the story of a mysterious baby in a Renaissance court shoe that wouldn't look out of place in an illustration from Gulliver's Travels. But it's so much more than a shoe! Shoe Baby moves through sky and sea in his shoe, a wonderful visualisation of the imaginative scope of young children who are able to explore entire worlds with everyday objects. "This very same baby FLEW in that shoe! To the birds of the air he said, 'How do you do?'" Shoe Baby moves through a colourful world where people and animals are patterned with stunning swatches like pieces in a patchwork quilt. The birds are particularly spectacular, and Shoe Baby meets a few. "The this fly-away baby SANG in the shoe." It's an adventure that seems inherently child-like, perhaps it's the breadth of worlds explored.
Shoe Baby's encounters become more and more surreal, but with a self-composed British charm, he always manages to compose himself in any situation with a polite 'how do you do?'. "Later this baby Had TEA in that shoe! He invited the Queen Who brought the King too." Soon, Shoe Baby snuggles up in an adorable illustration of him asleep (in the shoe, of course). "At long last this baby Slept in that shoe. So dozy, so cosy, So tickety-boo." The gentle rhyming structure and playful use of onomatopoeia and nonsense-words all added to the surrealism. I know that the nursery rhyme structure of was a big hit with Baby Adam!
I really enjoyed the resolution, when Shoe Baby was reunited with his parents after a long day adventuring on his own. "All at once this strange baby Grew in the shoe. He grew and grew Right out of that shoe! 'Peekaboo!' said the baby, Popping up from the shoe. 'Hey papa! Hey mama! How do you do?'" I liked the idea that Shoe Baby had powered off under the steam of his own imagination, and that he has now outgrown his playtime with the shoe and has his sights on even more elaborate adventures in the future! A really special, different read.
Who hid in a shoe
And had learned how to say,
'How do you do?'
In a shoe you might think
There is not much to do,
But this very same baby
Went to SEA in that shoe!"
This charming and whimsical picture book is completely different from anything I have seen before, a delight for the eyes from a mother-daughter author-illustrator team. The rhyms and quirky surrealism will definitely appeal to toddlers too.
A fortnight ago, I went to a Nearly New Sale at a primary school near me in Oxford. Everything there is a steal, I got a beautiful babygrow with teddy-bear ears for only 50p, and The Great Penguin Bookchace literary family board game for only £4 complete with all pieces. The books are invariably the greatest bargain of them all, and I am very glad that my husband slipped Shoe Baby into our bursting Ikea bag when I was browsing the books for adults. So far, this is my favourite of the 25 or so books we got on that spree.
This is the story of a mysterious baby in a Renaissance court shoe that wouldn't look out of place in an illustration from Gulliver's Travels. But it's so much more than a shoe! Shoe Baby moves through sky and sea in his shoe, a wonderful visualisation of the imaginative scope of young children who are able to explore entire worlds with everyday objects. "This very same baby FLEW in that shoe! To the birds of the air he said, 'How do you do?'" Shoe Baby moves through a colourful world where people and animals are patterned with stunning swatches like pieces in a patchwork quilt. The birds are particularly spectacular, and Shoe Baby meets a few. "The this fly-away baby SANG in the shoe." It's an adventure that seems inherently child-like, perhaps it's the breadth of worlds explored.
Shoe Baby's encounters become more and more surreal, but with a self-composed British charm, he always manages to compose himself in any situation with a polite 'how do you do?'. "Later this baby Had TEA in that shoe! He invited the Queen Who brought the King too." Soon, Shoe Baby snuggles up in an adorable illustration of him asleep (in the shoe, of course). "At long last this baby Slept in that shoe. So dozy, so cosy, So tickety-boo." The gentle rhyming structure and playful use of onomatopoeia and nonsense-words all added to the surrealism. I know that the nursery rhyme structure of was a big hit with Baby Adam!
I really enjoyed the resolution, when Shoe Baby was reunited with his parents after a long day adventuring on his own. "All at once this strange baby Grew in the shoe. He grew and grew Right out of that shoe! 'Peekaboo!' said the baby, Popping up from the shoe. 'Hey papa! Hey mama! How do you do?'" I liked the idea that Shoe Baby had powered off under the steam of his own imagination, and that he has now outgrown his playtime with the shoe and has his sights on even more elaborate adventures in the future! A really special, different read.
May 9, 2021
Part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.
This one is wonderful because it is two Dunbars. Fanciful, pretty, sweet. Dunbar books feel very joyful to me.
Library copy
This one is wonderful because it is two Dunbars. Fanciful, pretty, sweet. Dunbar books feel very joyful to me.
Library copy
September 1, 2017
This is a 3.5 star book. My older children, ages 5 and 7, gave it 3 stars. My two-and-a-half-year-old gave it 5. It's pretty absurd, but it works. I like the rhyme. And I like the idea of a baby traveling the world in a shoe. No explanation needed.
August 15, 2018
Strange but cute. A boy takes an adventure in a shoe. Daddy is missing his shoe and Mommy is missing her baby. They all come together in the end
March 20, 2017
This is a very strange little book. A baby travels around in a shoe, until he suddenly grows big enough for his parents to find him. And about halfway through you learn that they are giants, which I thought was a kind of random and pointless detail. Also, it bugged me that the father seemed much more upset about a missing shoe than about his missing baby. But overall a cute, light story that kids should enjoy.
September 6, 2014
What a happy find -- this book works great in story time! It is large, bright, imaginative, silly, and uses repeated phrases.
There once was a baby
Who hid in a shoe
And had learned how to say,
"How do you do?" (stop and invite the children to say "How do you do?" with you)
In a shoe you might think A dolphin came by
There is not much to do, And an octopus too.
But this very same baby Said this sail-away baby,
Went to SEA in that shoe! "How do you do?"
The baby goes to TOWN, to the ZOO and the baby even FLEW in that shoe!
Tension builds when we meet the giant who lost his shoe and the mother who lost her baby.
Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo
Happy ending-- it's baby's daddy's shoe and all are reunited.
There once was a baby
Who hid in a shoe
And had learned how to say,
"How do you do?" (stop and invite the children to say "How do you do?" with you)
In a shoe you might think A dolphin came by
There is not much to do, And an octopus too.
But this very same baby Said this sail-away baby,
Went to SEA in that shoe! "How do you do?"
The baby goes to TOWN, to the ZOO and the baby even FLEW in that shoe!
Tension builds when we meet the giant who lost his shoe and the mother who lost her baby.
Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo
Happy ending-- it's baby's daddy's shoe and all are reunited.
December 1, 2009
I liked it. I liked the mom and dad. What he was thinking about was real. It was really there. The king and queen and everybody was real.
He got in a shoe. The dad couldn't find the shoe and the mom couldn't find the baby.
He got in a shoe. The dad couldn't find the shoe and the mom couldn't find the baby.
August 10, 2010
This was a very cute story and would make an adorable baby gift for many of my fashionista mommy friends. I am sure you are all shocked - this was my pick from the library, not Cooper's - but he thought it was funny nonetheless!
December 12, 2011
Before this went Out of Print, it was my all-time favorite story book to give to new babies and their family. It's a rolliking rhyme that encourages politeness, immagination, emotion and adventure.
Please reprint, Candlewick!
Please reprint, Candlewick!
June 24, 2008
very cool illustrations by the author's daughter.
July 9, 2008
One of my favorite kids books!! I love the story and illustrations.
January 20, 2010
This is something we rented from the Library and the kids instantly loved. We have checked it out several more times. We need to buy it. We all love it.
April 15, 2009
Bridget wants to hear this book 5000 times a day right now, and luckily the illustrations are so good I'm happy to oblige.
June 11, 2009
Love this one. It is so cute and my son loves it too. I can't praise the illustrations by Polly Dunbar enough. And I totally want an outfit like the mom-that green skirt rocks.
September 12, 2010
I got this because it had great reviews but I just didn't love it. I thought it was a little odd.
November 6, 2010
A Great read a loud for baby storytime.
December 10, 2010
Pure joy-I love this crazy story :)
January 15, 2011
Great kids book. The illustrations are colorful and exciting. Good for storytime.
March 23, 2011
A very cute, repetative story of a baby's adventures while playing make-believe with his dad's shoe. Large, bright, colorful illustrations.
October 20, 2011
This is a really cute story that encourages children to use their imagination and that anything is possible when you are imagining!
June 24, 2012
A baby goes on an adventure in a shoe.... yeah that is about the nicest part of the book.
Read
July 23, 2012Another hit for the toddler set!;-)
January 26, 2014
Lots of repetition to encourage language. Like the découpage style of illustration.
June 2, 2016
This book is utterly adorable. The illustrations are very creative and utterly divine. My daughters absolutely adore it. This would made a lovely book. It is definitely something special!
April 11, 2017
Wonderful!
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews