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Global Babies
Global Babies
Appealing photos of babies from seventeen cultures around the globe are woven together by simple narration. Global Babies presents children in cultural context. Diverse settings highlight specific differences in clothing, daily life, and traditions, as well as demonstrate that babies around the world are nurtured by the love, caring, and joy that surround them.
16 pages, Board Book
First published January 1, 2007
11 people are currently reading
514 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
May 19, 2012
I checked this book out because my son adores the other book in the series, American Babies (reviewed here). Unfortunately, we still have American Babies checked out because he asks for it by name. I fear we are going to have to buy a copy.
Anyway, I much prefer Global Babies. The text is your run of the mill I-want-to-poke-my-head-with-a-fork type of board book, rather than the I-want-to-embed-this-fork-in-my-brain-NO-WAIT-in-the-author's-brain kind of board book that American Babies was. Bonus points for not featuring babies with boogers.
The edition I checked out is bilingual with Spanish/English on each page describing the babies from all over the world. The babies are as diverse as their clothing, with the Thailand baby in some kind of ceremonial headdress, while the Fiji baby is just in a tshirt. I like the book. Better text, better pictures, two languages, and you have a winner in my book. Unfortunately my son loathes this book. Try to offer it to him and you'll get a disdainful "no." Try to offer it to him when he is asking for American Babies, and he will take this book away from you.
This leads me to uncomfortable conclusions about what kind of baby we are raising, and perhaps we need to get out and about more beyond family gatherings and library story times.
I'm giving it two stars because while I like it, the most important person does not.
Anyway, I much prefer Global Babies. The text is your run of the mill I-want-to-poke-my-head-with-a-fork type of board book, rather than the I-want-to-embed-this-fork-in-my-brain-NO-WAIT-in-the-author's-brain kind of board book that American Babies was. Bonus points for not featuring babies with boogers.
The edition I checked out is bilingual with Spanish/English on each page describing the babies from all over the world. The babies are as diverse as their clothing, with the Thailand baby in some kind of ceremonial headdress, while the Fiji baby is just in a tshirt. I like the book. Better text, better pictures, two languages, and you have a winner in my book. Unfortunately my son loathes this book. Try to offer it to him and you'll get a disdainful "no." Try to offer it to him when he is asking for American Babies, and he will take this book away from you.
This leads me to uncomfortable conclusions about what kind of baby we are raising, and perhaps we need to get out and about more beyond family gatherings and library story times.
I'm giving it two stars because while I like it, the most important person does not.
February 28, 2022
This is a beautiful board book that babies can look at themselves from a very young age! Babies love looking at other babies, and even though there are words on the pages, the photographs carry the show.
May 28, 2021
Photographs of diverse babies from all over the world sleeping and awake. Nice pictures of their faces. Babies like to look at other babies and faces.
January 8, 2021
Five stars from Violet. She makes us read it at least 10 times a day. And unfortunately we're stuck doing it because she owns this one LOL
October 2, 2008
Intended audience or age: baby-preschool
Each page of this board book features a photograph of a baby, each labeled with its country. The accompanying text describes how babies everywhere are special and loved.
The text is somewhat predictable, but in a way that is soothingly repetitive and suited to babies who couldn't understand the text. It could also work for a slightly older child who wants to look through the book alone. The geographic identifiers on each photo could also be used to introduce a preschooler to geography, matching photos to places on a map.
The photographs are sure to be engaging to babies and toddlers who like to look at baby faces. Each photograph is set against a bright, single-color background and usually features the child in traditional dress. There is some variety in the quality of the photographs, which is natural considering the number of sources used for the book. Overall, the book is visually stimulating and engaging.
Also reviewed by Booklist. The starred review praises the effective use of color and baby faces, the global emphasis, and its appropriateness for very young children.
Each page of this board book features a photograph of a baby, each labeled with its country. The accompanying text describes how babies everywhere are special and loved.
The text is somewhat predictable, but in a way that is soothingly repetitive and suited to babies who couldn't understand the text. It could also work for a slightly older child who wants to look through the book alone. The geographic identifiers on each photo could also be used to introduce a preschooler to geography, matching photos to places on a map.
The photographs are sure to be engaging to babies and toddlers who like to look at baby faces. Each photograph is set against a bright, single-color background and usually features the child in traditional dress. There is some variety in the quality of the photographs, which is natural considering the number of sources used for the book. Overall, the book is visually stimulating and engaging.
Also reviewed by Booklist. The starred review praises the effective use of color and baby faces, the global emphasis, and its appropriateness for very young children.
June 5, 2011
One of the first books we read to my son and still a favorite that we keep returning to. The photographs are stunning and I love that they showcase not just the different clothing from around the world, but also babywearing. It's perfect for infants at that age where they want nothing more than to look at other faces. My son was mesmerized by the babies from about 2 months on. His initial favorite was the Peruvian baby.
The pictures really stand alone. The words, although nice, aren't really essential and I don't always read them. I guess the country names could be a springboard for teaching an older child some geography, but I think the genius of this book is just the diverse array of baby faces for a younger baby to look at.
The pictures really stand alone. The words, although nice, aren't really essential and I don't always read them. I guess the country names could be a springboard for teaching an older child some geography, but I think the genius of this book is just the diverse array of baby faces for a younger baby to look at.
June 25, 2010
While I liked the idea of illustrating babies from around the world in their traditional garments in a book for babies, this book fell a bit flat for me. The colors and photos are beautiful, but I would have rather had no additional text other than where they are from in this board book. The long sentence is very hard to follow, and would be even hard if reading this to infants/toddlers - especially if you want to highlight how each baby is both different & the same.
October 2, 2012
Excellent book for young babies! The photos make the book more interesting to young children than most board books' illustrations (as babies don't really understand symbolism/representation), and it includes a variety of faces and cultural accoutrements. The text also has some rhyming and a lyrical quality that is wonderful for getting young children interested in language. This is a favorite of mine to give as a gift to new parents.
July 9, 2013
Very cute book that I would use to show multiculturalism. I love the message associated with this book and I feel it's something we should definitely teach children at a young age. As a teaching idea, after reading this book you can have the children draw and share different things that they believe makes them special.
May 26, 2016
I love this little series! A simple board book featuring Getty image portraits of babies from around the world. A simple sentence or two spans the bottom of the pages throughout the book, while each picture has a label of each baby's home country. So, you can read the book by reading the "story" or by reading the country names/embellishing. I'd love to read these to a wee one!
December 17, 2019
This book shows pictures of babies from different countries around the world. It highlights how important and beautiful all babies are.
Babies would like this book because they can see images of other babies, and faces fascinate babies as they grow. With that exception, this book doesn’t seem entirely educational. It has a good amount of diversity, but I did notice that there are two babies from the USA in it, which seems a little biased, and I think they could have easily included another baby from a different country.
Babies would like this book because they can see images of other babies, and faces fascinate babies as they grow. With that exception, this book doesn’t seem entirely educational. It has a good amount of diversity, but I did notice that there are two babies from the USA in it, which seems a little biased, and I think they could have easily included another baby from a different country.
August 25, 2020
Cute pictures, but some of the babies were not looking at the camera when the pictures were taken which reduces the feeling of "interaction".
The dialogue of the book goes over 5+ pages which causes the reader to flip through very fast to provide a full sentence to the person they are reading to. This causes the book to feel very short and reduces the opportunity for conversations about each place and baby. It would be great if there was a version with just the babies and their country name to help slow down the conversation and allower the reader to jump around more.
The dialogue of the book goes over 5+ pages which causes the reader to flip through very fast to provide a full sentence to the person they are reading to. This causes the book to feel very short and reduces the opportunity for conversations about each place and baby. It would be great if there was a version with just the babies and their country name to help slow down the conversation and allower the reader to jump around more.
August 30, 2021
Board book. Beautiful photographs of babies from around the world. Each page has a label for the country and a few words of text. It's kind of a choice whether you read the names of the countries or the narrative, as you lose the thread of the narrative if you read the country names. But the real treat is the photographs-- Central American babies in beautiful embroidery, a Native-American baby on a cradleboard, bright-eyed African babies in bright colorful baby wraps, these babies are a joy to look at.
February 1, 2019
Mama still calls us her babies, which clearly we no longer are at almost 2 years old. I am currently obsessed with babies, so this book was a fave for me. Amaré couldn't care less, savage that he is. Enjoyed pointing at all the babies and looking at their little faces and their clothes. Mama kept trying to make me say the names of the countries that the babies are from. Needless to say I'm not quite there yet lady calm down!
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March 6, 2021 Text and photographs introduce young children to their neighbors in Guatemala, Thailand, Greenland, Mali, the U.S., India, South Africa, Fiji, Peru, Afghanistan, Malawi, Spain, Iraq, Rwanda, and Bhutan.
Texto y fotografías presentan a los niños pequeños a sus vecinos en Guatemala, Tailandia, Groenlandia, Malí, Estados Unidos, India, Sudáfrica, Fiji, Perú, Afganistán, Malawi, España, Irak, Ruanda y Bhután.
Texto y fotografías presentan a los niños pequeños a sus vecinos en Guatemala, Tailandia, Groenlandia, Malí, Estados Unidos, India, Sudáfrica, Fiji, Perú, Afganistán, Malawi, España, Irak, Ruanda y Bhután.
November 29, 2020
Great for babies to look at diverse babies/young toddlers (particularly helpful during COVID when babies are isolated)
Babies recognize faces the most! and love seeing other babies
Since babies show a preference for race by the time they are 6 months old, this is a great way to introduce some diversity to your little one!
Babies recognize faces the most! and love seeing other babies
Since babies show a preference for race by the time they are 6 months old, this is a great way to introduce some diversity to your little one!
February 26, 2018
Simple text, diverse babies. I especially like that there are two babies from the US and one is a baby of color and that the international babies are in a wide range of clothing, not just traditional dress. Iris is into this one right now.
December 19, 2021
I loved that this showed babies from all over the world. The text is simple, but the accompanying pictures are really the focus. Babies love seeing other babies in books, and this one has such a diverse array.
January 5, 2022
Beautiful book that keeps my boy enamored for several minutes :)
Perfect for bringing about the subject of cultural differences and discuss your own if yours is also a family with different cultural heritage.
We also own the Anti-racist Baby and they go hand in hand wonderfully!
Perfect for bringing about the subject of cultural differences and discuss your own if yours is also a family with different cultural heritage.
We also own the Anti-racist Baby and they go hand in hand wonderfully!
July 15, 2017
This books warms my heart! Great, short book to give a global perspective!
September 20, 2018
This is an adorable story for the very young- many cultures represented - students love this!
May 24, 2019
Love that the two were included for USA. Both European American and Native American.
April 19, 2020
Classic for a reason. What could be better than baby faces and sweet, simple text? Lots of baby faces. Even better? Most of them have HATS.
June 15, 2020
My daughters are obsessed with kissing all the babies. And pointing to them, saying "babies."
August 27, 2020
This book has been my favorite from about 10 to 12 months. I can read it over and over and over.
January 28, 2021
I love this book. I love that it shows babies from many places and my child loves the pictures. I appreciate that it tells us where the babies are from and that the words are simple.
February 14, 2021
So sweet. My baby loves it!!
March 14, 2021
Cute pictures! Bats doesn't get to see many babies so it's nice to show him some diverse faces...
May 18, 2021
Pictures of babies!
Generic words in generic fonts!
Diversity!
Racism is solved because All Babies Are Cute.
Generic words in generic fonts!
Diversity!
Racism is solved because All Babies Are Cute.
February 6, 2022
We love all the books in the Global Babies series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews