Baby Face: A Book of Love for Baby

by Cynthia Rylant

Baby lovely, Baby sweet, Baby so divine. I love your pretty baby face. Tell me you are mine.

From the early morning of a new day to afternoon nap time to the evening bath and bedtime, a baby's life is sometimes quiet, sometimes busy, and always filled with baby love.
Newbery Medal recipient Cynthia Rylant and beloved artist Diane goode joyfully celebrate all of the treasured moments in a baby's life in six read-aloud verses for babies and toddlers to share -- especially with those they love.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Family, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2008

About the author

Cynthia Rylant is an American author, poet, and librarian whose deeply felt books for children and young adults have made her one of the most beloved voices in contemporary literature. Writing across picture books, novels, short stories, nonfiction, and poetry, she has published more than one hundred works, many of them rooted in memory, family, solitude, and the emotional landscapes of ordinary life. Her fiction often draws from her upbringing in West Virginia and reflects the textures of Appalachian life with unusual tenderness and clarity.
Raised in modest circumstances, Rylant spent much of her childhood with her grandparents in a rural setting that later became central to her imagination as a writer. Those early years, marked by hardship as well as warmth, shaped the emotional honesty and quiet resilience that define her work. She later studied English and library science, and after working as a waitress, librarian, and teacher, she began publishing books inspired by the world she had known so intimately.
Among her most acclaimed works are Missing May, which received the Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust, a Newbery Honor Book. She also earned Caldecott Honors for When I Was Young in the Mountains and The Relatives Came. For younger readers, she became especially well known through the enduring Henry and Mudge series, as well as other popular books and series that combine gentleness, humor, and emotional depth.
Rylant's writing is distinguished by its compassion for lonely, searching, or overlooked characters, and by its reverence for animals, nature, and small human connections. Whether writing about grief, wonder, childhood, or belonging, she brings a lyrical simplicity that resonates across generations. Her books continue to offer comfort, recognition, and beauty to readers of all ages. She remains a singular literary presence in children's literature and beyond today.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story by two of my favorite children's book collaborators, author Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Diane Goode. While it's really nothing outstanding it is just very, very CUTE (redundant word choice, but it seems to fit!) Very simple rhymes show some of the various things moms/dads/grandparents do to help care for and adore their babies. Nice multi-cultural touch with the various illustrations. Maybe three-stars, but I was perhaps more endeared to it since my Sims just had babies, haha! ;-)

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great choice as a baby shower gift, or for new parents looking for something sweet to read to their babies. Cynthia Rylant never fails!

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six illustrated verses express a caregiver's love for a child.

This picture book contains six short Poems: "Baby Face," "Baby Steps," "Baby Shampoo," "Baby Carriage," "Baby Teeth," and "Baby Bed." These all celebrate the love a caregiver feels for a child through different milestones (walking, teething) and moments (bath time, going for a walk in a stroller, bed time).

The babies and caregivers featured are gender balanced and ethnically diverse, which makes is book very inclusive. The tone and illustrations are very gentle and loving. This would be a great book to share with very young children and their caregivers.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice book for toddler and babies, text I’d kind of written in poem form,...with great illustrations for small eyes to look at as you read it to them

[Cheryl Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darling little book highlighting fun parts of a baby's life done in verse with lovely illustrations.

[Abby Aguilera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are so delightful 😍

[Gia Bittner · Rating 4 out of 5]

We had fun looking at the babies!

[Savannah Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun way to count especially with a baby brother on the way

[Christine Kallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet rhyming picture book with six poems focusing on different aspects of baby life-- Baby Face, Baby Steps, Baby Shampoo, Baby Carriage, Baby Teeth, and Baby Bed. My son wanted me to read it "again" -- and that's always a good sign!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's quite the experience having three kids of different age groups (11, 9, 21months)! But all of my kids enjoyed this book especially when the older kids read it to their baby brother! The love for a baby is immeasurable but this book helps put your thoughts into words. Cute little illustrations add to the simple rhyming text of the book...and they bring out the baby giggles even to the oldest person reading!

"If I find a tickle spot,
maybe you will wiggle.
And I'll see your pretty teeth,
every time you giggle!"

This book would be excellent within a toddler room, where some of the rhymes could be acted out with the little people! This would also be an excellent choice for children who will be welcoming a baby into their lives soon! I would recommend keeping this on your shelf to use in times when the group of children needs encouraged... letting them know once they were babies, but now are grown...and even now they are loved so much more than they were when they were little babies!

[Amber Friel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Cynthia Rylant, but this book didn't do it for me. The book is a group of rhymes covering different topics like sleeping and teeth. It focuses on the love from the parent to the child and what makes each topic unique. I wasn't in love with the rhyme, but perhaps if it was presented differently I might have really enjoyed it. Because it was a large hardback book, but written for small children, it didn't really fit it's audience. I think that if the format were different (i.e. broken up by each topic into mini board books) I might have liked it more. My youngest can't sit still long enough for regular books without becoming a threat to the continued life of the pages. My oldest, who is better suited, was too old for the topics covered in the book.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that I would rate this book at one and a half stars.
I particularly like the first lyrical poem of the book. Cynthia Rylant really displays her writing skills quite nicely, and I could see how this verse, in particular, could become a special bond between mother (or father) and child, even as the young one begins to grow beyond the stages of babyhood.
There are some other nice poems in the book, too, and this volume surely could be a good book to first introduce toddlers to the love of reading, through tender words read by a parent.

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ages 1 and up. I had a hard time with this book because the intended audience and the content didn't translate we'll. the poems are about the everyday lives of babies: learning to walk, the parts of the body, bathing. But the poems were long, longer than the attention span of a one year old. Also the physical format of the book didn't quite fit. If each poem was its own board book, they might work better. The book is too big for a baby to hold and the pages too thin. The rhyming would help children with phonological awareness though.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I'm becoming an old softie. I loved reading this sugary-sweet book to my 9-month-old, kissing his head & tickling his toes at the appropriate times. It's a good book for reading while cuddling together, at bedtime or any other time.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the subtitles (?) within the book. Maybe they're supposed to be individual poems & those were their titles, but it just seemed to me like they interrupted the flow.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of short extended poems, each of which depicts the moments in a baby's development. The text is simple, easy-paced, suitable for a calming read aloud. The visual (Diane Goode) are a slideshow of various cultures- in no way referenced from the text- but communicating beautifully the universal nature of the love and development of a baby.

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweetly-illustrated book of poems about a baby's day. It shows a multitude of multicultural babies being walked, bathed, put to bed, and loved. Even a very young child should enjoy this book as it has a nice rhythm with loving words and charming pictures of babies.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sweet.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute book for toddlers about activities babies do like eating and sleeping. soothing. sweet pictures.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really sweet - will definitely read one of the little stories at baby storytime.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uninspiring text and boring illustrations. I did not have love for this baby book.

[Ishta Mercurio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this - but I would have liked it more in board book format.

[Gail Yerbic]

Print Motivation. Loving poems to share with baby.