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Everywhere Babies: A Delightfully Illustrated Rhyming Celebration of Playing, Sleeping, and Crawling
With an irresistible rhyming text and delightfully endearing illustrations, here is an exuberant celebration of playing, sleeping, crawling, and of course, very noisy babies doing all the wonderful things babies do best. Every day, everywhere, babies are born. They're kissed and dressed and rocked and fed—and completely adored by the families who love them. New York magazine's The Strategist chose Everywhere Babies as one of the "Best (Nonobvious) Baby Books to Bring to a Shower." As The Strategist " Babies love looking at other babies, and this book is filled with all kinds of adorable ones." Plus the book's art is "really layered and thoughtful in representing all kinds of babies and parents." The Strategist's kids loved the "really pleasing cadence and rhyme structure." Marla Frazee's popular books include two Caldecott Honor winners, the Clementine series, and The Boss Baby, among many others.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2001
10 people are currently reading
1273 people want to read
About the author
Susan Meyers
53 books33 followersSusan Meyers is the author of the poetry collection Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press, 2006), selected by Terrance Hayes for the SC Poetry Book Prize. It also won the 2007 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Book Award for Poetry and the NC Poetry Society's Brockman-Campbell Book Award."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 299 reviews
October 1, 2023
I admit it: The only reason I read this picture book was because it was banned in Florida. I had to see for myself what provoked the usual gang of idiots (forgive me, I should never compare them to the talented crew at Mad Magazine) to ban it.
I’m not sure why Walton County, Florida, banned this book. It’s a wonderful book, showing babies of every shade and race and size doing baby things: being kissed and cuddled by besotted relatives, being dressed, being fed, going out, playing, crawling, toddling, crying, cooing, giggling, babbling — well, you get it. In one small picture, a woman is discreetly nursing her baby. Was it that? In another, a baby’s being changed. No more is shown than in a diaper commercial. Was it that? It’s hard to discern what will set off a QAnon tyrant.
Or was it the final line that dismayed the censors? “Every day, everywhere, babies are loved … for trying so hard, for traveling so far, for being so wonderful … just as they are!” Because, God forbid, that parents allow their children to be themselves.
I want to thank the theocrats for bringing this wonderful picture book to my attention. The whimsical illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Marla Frazee will bring a huge smile to any reader and their babies — whatever their age (my youngest baby soon turns 29). And you can judge how charming the sing-song prose by Susan Meyers is for yourself. Highly recommended. Buy a copy to send to someone in Florida.
I’m not sure why Walton County, Florida, banned this book. It’s a wonderful book, showing babies of every shade and race and size doing baby things: being kissed and cuddled by besotted relatives, being dressed, being fed, going out, playing, crawling, toddling, crying, cooing, giggling, babbling — well, you get it. In one small picture, a woman is discreetly nursing her baby. Was it that? In another, a baby’s being changed. No more is shown than in a diaper commercial. Was it that? It’s hard to discern what will set off a QAnon tyrant.
Or was it the final line that dismayed the censors? “Every day, everywhere, babies are loved … for trying so hard, for traveling so far, for being so wonderful … just as they are!” Because, God forbid, that parents allow their children to be themselves.
I want to thank the theocrats for bringing this wonderful picture book to my attention. The whimsical illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Marla Frazee will bring a huge smile to any reader and their babies — whatever their age (my youngest baby soon turns 29). And you can judge how charming the sing-song prose by Susan Meyers is for yourself. Highly recommended. Buy a copy to send to someone in Florida.
July 1, 2017
Thiiiiiiiis is a great example of how to show diversity in a way that isn't in-your-face, preachy, or just wrong. It's a book filled with different kinds of families, just doing what they do every day and not pointing out the ways in which they stand out or are different from what's considered a "normal" family-this picture book illustrates the way we should be able to live. I don't pretend to be an expert on what's best for LGBT+ or other diverse families, but it's nice to have a book that doesn't portray them as being some sort of spectacle or something wildly different; here, they just live life.
October 4, 2023
Now as a target for a book challenge by an obviously and majorly deranged and unhinged Florida Conservative group called the Florida Citizens Alliance (and that honestly I for one would not call this group Conservative at all but instead creepily Nazi and/or Stalinist in scope) the 2001 board book Everywhere Babies (with a simple and engaging text by Susan Meyers and delightfully realistic, majorly cute and cuddly artwork by Marla Frazee) seems a very unlikely candidate, since Everywhere Babies is really and truly both textually and illustratively pretty much exclusively about babies and specifically about how adorable, how sweet they are (and with my only and exceedingly mild caveat being that I do wish the infants and toddlers featured in Everywhere Babies could also include Native American/Canadian, African, South American, Asian, Australian Aborigine etc. babies as Everywhere Babies is definitely just a wee bit too so called First World centric for my own personal tastes).
But why Everywhere Babies was challenged, this is a sordid, putridly ignorant and strange account of censorship and majorly distorted facts and thought processes, with both author Susan Meyers and illustrator Marla Frazee not only being upset but also (and rightfully so) flabbergasted and stunned regarding Everywhere Babies being challenged, being considered unacceptable for young children (and in particular since the book was inspired by the birth of Susan Meyers' first grandchild and how everyone just oh so much loved and adored him). I mean, there is in my humble opinion absolutely NOTHING even remotely problematic and questionable regarding either text or images, with Everywhere Babies basically featuring all kinds of different babies and families (light skinned and dark skinned infants, young parents, older parents, couples, singles and so on and so on). But I guess the fact that Marla Frazee has drawn for Everywhere Babies a few scenes where babies are nearly naked (oh the absolute horror of bare skin, groan) and that there are also some scenes in Everywhere Babies featuring breast-feeding, showing two men or two women with a baby, this seems to have sadly been enough for the puritanical morons of the Florida Citizens Coalition to scream "pornography" and that Everywhere Babies supposedly has an agenda of promoting and celebrating sexuality, nudity and same sex relationships (although neither artist Marla Frazee nor author Susan Meyers ever insinuate in many manner that the words and the pictures in Everywhere Babies depicting two men or two women with a baby are same sex couples, as they could just as much and as well be presenting, sisters, daughters, brothers, friends, cousins and the like, and indeed, while the pictures of two men with babies and two women with babies could of course be romantic same sex couples, they do not have to be, they so not need to be).
And while there do seem to be conflicting reports as to whether Everywhere Babies has actually been banned, has in fact been removed from Florida school library shelves and classrooms, it is true that Everywhere Babies was on a banned books "naughty" list for Walton County School District (which is in Florida) and that school board members obviously had listened to the Florida Citizens Alliance and have basically put a "hit" out so to speak on Everywhere Babies, on a book that for me and to me is only unacceptable and problematic in the deranged, in the crazed minds of puritanical extremists, and that catering to, enabling and condoning their madness is both ridiculous but also majorly dangerous and dicktatorial (but yes, the alternative spelling of dictatorial is very much deliberate and is totally meant to both humiliate and to shame ALL book banners everywhere).
And finally, after reading the nastily unhinged and rabidly raving one star tirades for Everywhere Babies on Amazon pontificating about LGBQT agendas and the like, not only do I once again have to laugh with major and utter derision, I also am more than ever firmly believing that a huge majority of homophobes (and in particular those who see agendas and conspiracies everywhere with regard to education, children's books and the like supposedly promoting and pushing same sex relationships), these "persons" more than likely are not only ignorance personified but also probably have major and problematic issues with their own sexuality (and might even be rather in the closet themselves).
But why Everywhere Babies was challenged, this is a sordid, putridly ignorant and strange account of censorship and majorly distorted facts and thought processes, with both author Susan Meyers and illustrator Marla Frazee not only being upset but also (and rightfully so) flabbergasted and stunned regarding Everywhere Babies being challenged, being considered unacceptable for young children (and in particular since the book was inspired by the birth of Susan Meyers' first grandchild and how everyone just oh so much loved and adored him). I mean, there is in my humble opinion absolutely NOTHING even remotely problematic and questionable regarding either text or images, with Everywhere Babies basically featuring all kinds of different babies and families (light skinned and dark skinned infants, young parents, older parents, couples, singles and so on and so on). But I guess the fact that Marla Frazee has drawn for Everywhere Babies a few scenes where babies are nearly naked (oh the absolute horror of bare skin, groan) and that there are also some scenes in Everywhere Babies featuring breast-feeding, showing two men or two women with a baby, this seems to have sadly been enough for the puritanical morons of the Florida Citizens Coalition to scream "pornography" and that Everywhere Babies supposedly has an agenda of promoting and celebrating sexuality, nudity and same sex relationships (although neither artist Marla Frazee nor author Susan Meyers ever insinuate in many manner that the words and the pictures in Everywhere Babies depicting two men or two women with a baby are same sex couples, as they could just as much and as well be presenting, sisters, daughters, brothers, friends, cousins and the like, and indeed, while the pictures of two men with babies and two women with babies could of course be romantic same sex couples, they do not have to be, they so not need to be).
And while there do seem to be conflicting reports as to whether Everywhere Babies has actually been banned, has in fact been removed from Florida school library shelves and classrooms, it is true that Everywhere Babies was on a banned books "naughty" list for Walton County School District (which is in Florida) and that school board members obviously had listened to the Florida Citizens Alliance and have basically put a "hit" out so to speak on Everywhere Babies, on a book that for me and to me is only unacceptable and problematic in the deranged, in the crazed minds of puritanical extremists, and that catering to, enabling and condoning their madness is both ridiculous but also majorly dangerous and dicktatorial (but yes, the alternative spelling of dictatorial is very much deliberate and is totally meant to both humiliate and to shame ALL book banners everywhere).
And finally, after reading the nastily unhinged and rabidly raving one star tirades for Everywhere Babies on Amazon pontificating about LGBQT agendas and the like, not only do I once again have to laugh with major and utter derision, I also am more than ever firmly believing that a huge majority of homophobes (and in particular those who see agendas and conspiracies everywhere with regard to education, children's books and the like supposedly promoting and pushing same sex relationships), these "persons" more than likely are not only ignorance personified but also probably have major and problematic issues with their own sexuality (and might even be rather in the closet themselves).
August 13, 2011
We love this book! I'm all about teaching diversity and this book has it! The illustrations are detailed and incredibly beautiful, so it makes a fun seek-and-find game with littler kids as well.
Everywhere Babies shows diversity in babies and how they are cared for and loved by their families. There are babies in slings, cribs, cradles, carriers, backpacks, arms, car seats and bucket carriers. There are babies being breastfed and babies fed with bottles and baby food.
Even the families are diverse. There are ethnic families, multi-ethnic families and same-sex couples. An interracial lesbian couple are shown sleeping in bed with a baby beside them in a cradle. There is also what appears to be a gay couple walking down the street, but they don't seem to have a child with them, so they could just be best buddies with an arm around each other.
I really love this book and it reinforces what I try to teach my daughter every day: that we are all different and that no matter how a baby is cared for, it is loved! Definitely one for our personal bookshelf.
Everywhere Babies shows diversity in babies and how they are cared for and loved by their families. There are babies in slings, cribs, cradles, carriers, backpacks, arms, car seats and bucket carriers. There are babies being breastfed and babies fed with bottles and baby food.
Even the families are diverse. There are ethnic families, multi-ethnic families and same-sex couples. An interracial lesbian couple are shown sleeping in bed with a baby beside them in a cradle. There is also what appears to be a gay couple walking down the street, but they don't seem to have a child with them, so they could just be best buddies with an arm around each other.
I really love this book and it reinforces what I try to teach my daughter every day: that we are all different and that no matter how a baby is cared for, it is loved! Definitely one for our personal bookshelf.
April 19, 2010
An adorable book that just makes me feel happy and long to hear a baby giggle :-) Meyers uses few words in a lyrical fashion to portray lots of things that babies "everywhere" do. The illustrations by Marla Frazee are a pure delight--I am really a fan of her work after having read and loved All the World and the same warmth, humor and attention to detail are present here.
The only "downside" to this book, IMO, is that the "everywhere" seems to only include industrialized nations both in terms of text and certainly in illustrations, though multiculturalism is highlighted through different races represented. I would have loved to see greater variety in terms of babies in less developed nations and even indigenous cultures. (Guess I'll just have to go watch that "Babies" documentary when it finally hits theaters here!)
But, overall, this is a really lovely book! :-)
The only "downside" to this book, IMO, is that the "everywhere" seems to only include industrialized nations both in terms of text and certainly in illustrations, though multiculturalism is highlighted through different races represented. I would have loved to see greater variety in terms of babies in less developed nations and even indigenous cultures. (Guess I'll just have to go watch that "Babies" documentary when it finally hits theaters here!)
But, overall, this is a really lovely book! :-)
January 15, 2011
This is a keeper! It goes through a baby's first year beginning at "every day, everywhere, babies are born." The illustrations are lovely. They show babies of many races. Every day, everywhere they are playing, eating (one is being breast fed), being kissed, carried, and cuddled. Each page shows several babies along with parents, siblings and friends. The two women may be a lesbian couple, or they may be friends; similarly the two men. It's up to the parent to explain the picture the way he or she feels is appropriate. It would be an excellent book for a new baby or for a child who is about to welcome a new baby into the family. Love it!
June 12, 2022
Have to admit I’d never heard of nor come across this book until I heard certain parent groups were trying to get it removed from shelves. It’s sweet and has tender illustrations with a nice sing song-y rhyme.
January 14, 2020
A celebration of babies (and their families), this picture-book is absolutely adorable, featuring a simple text from Susan Meyers that will keep younger children entertained, and delightful pencil and watercolor illustrations from Marla Frazee - best known for her work on the Caldecott Honor title,
All the World
. There isn't much of a story here, just a simple "list" of activities in which babies engage. Every page begins: "Every day, everywhere, babies are..." and continues with an exploration of the happenings which make up a baby's life, from bathing to eating.
I picked up Everywhere Babies primarily because I enjoyed Marla Frazee's illustrations so much in All the World , and wanted to see more of her work. I was not disappointed! The babies here are diverse, both in terms of race and ethnicity, and in terms of the families in which they live - I spied a few same sex couples, some multiracial couples, and parents of all shapes and sizes - and while I agree that it would have been nice for the book to have more of an international feeling (something raised by other reviewers), I also think it's perfectly acceptable for an American children's book to have an American focus. Leaving that issue aside, this is just a charming title, highly recommended to anyone looking for entertaining books for the infant set, or to fans of Marla Frazee.
I picked up Everywhere Babies primarily because I enjoyed Marla Frazee's illustrations so much in All the World , and wanted to see more of her work. I was not disappointed! The babies here are diverse, both in terms of race and ethnicity, and in terms of the families in which they live - I spied a few same sex couples, some multiracial couples, and parents of all shapes and sizes - and while I agree that it would have been nice for the book to have more of an international feeling (something raised by other reviewers), I also think it's perfectly acceptable for an American children's book to have an American focus. Leaving that issue aside, this is just a charming title, highly recommended to anyone looking for entertaining books for the infant set, or to fans of Marla Frazee.
June 5, 2018
My 20 month old reads this book 3 or more times per day and learns new vocabulary from it each day.
January 26, 2019
Loved seeing my little one get excited by all the babies. She was very engaged.
August 30, 2019
AWWWWWW. This is completely and utterly adorable. Diverse and inclusive in every way possible. Families of all shapes and sizes, all hues of the rainbow, bottle and breastfeeding, babywearing....I am just so darn happy with this book I want everyone to read it. All the stars.
July 14, 2013
Marla Frazee is hands-down one of my favorite children's book illustrators, and she does not disappoint in Susan Meyers' Everywhere Babies. Frazee shows different ethnicity and lifestyles, like a mosaic. I can never get over how authentic the people look and how real the world is around them. Love it.
March 1, 2012
I love how this book features all kinds of families, not just man/woman parents, and not just white people. The pages are nice and big and can take some punishment. My son prefers to have this read to him no less than once a day
November 14, 2012
My son LOVED this book. Nice rhyming, good vocab builder, and cute illustrations.
March 7, 2016
Great rhythm and rhyme with sweet subjects on each page. Wonderful illustrations. A must read for your little one.
October 30, 2019
Cute book that I think will appeal to 'big brother/sister' after the new baby comes home!
May 7, 2022
Another picture book I've seen read aloud in a video.
This one was banned in Florida recently, which is just wild. Here is nothing inappropriate about this book and I found it very sweet.
This one was banned in Florida recently, which is just wild. Here is nothing inappropriate about this book and I found it very sweet.
June 21, 2025
My 2.5yo adored this book. As a mid 90’s baby, I was amused by the illustrations reflecting the era of baby products I grew up using. Pretty sure the blue and yellow outdoor swing is based off the exact 1980’s Fisher-Price baby swing I now have in my own backyard swing set, lol.
October 30, 2023
"Everywhere Babies" is written delightfully, with an easy and playful rhythm. It's lends itself well to reading fast or slow as needed. All you parents know that sometimes you need a book you can blaze through and sometimes you need one that'll linger without too much work. This can actually do both jobs.
The art is excellent. Each, energetic, lifelike drawing is filled with the love, chaos, and humor of life with a baby. The pictures aren't just realistic, they feel real. From the exhausted nursing mom, to the brilliantly minimalist walking page. Also critically, the art doubles down on the inclusiveness of the text and features people of many ethnicities and same sex couples.
The art is excellent. Each, energetic, lifelike drawing is filled with the love, chaos, and humor of life with a baby. The pictures aren't just realistic, they feel real. From the exhausted nursing mom, to the brilliantly minimalist walking page. Also critically, the art doubles down on the inclusiveness of the text and features people of many ethnicities and same sex couples.
March 25, 2019
There’s a lot to look at on each page and it’s about how great babies are, which is a decent message for a baby to hear, I guess.
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May 12, 2022Daily Kos Banned Book Club
I do not have a clue as to why someone would think to ban this book. It would have to be someone with a very, very small mind.
Perhaps:
1. "Every day, everywhere, babies are fed~
by bottle, by breast , with cups, and with spoons...
One illustration has a mother dozing with a baby at her breast. Nothing shows. Nothing.
2. "Every day, everywhere, babies are crawling~
One illustration shows two men sitting together on a bench.
That this book is on any banned book list really angers me.
I feel grateful to live in a blue state with full library shelves.
I do not have a clue as to why someone would think to ban this book. It would have to be someone with a very, very small mind.
Perhaps:
1. "Every day, everywhere, babies are fed~
by bottle, by breast , with cups, and with spoons...
One illustration has a mother dozing with a baby at her breast. Nothing shows. Nothing.
2. "Every day, everywhere, babies are crawling~
One illustration shows two men sitting together on a bench.
That this book is on any banned book list really angers me.
I feel grateful to live in a blue state with full library shelves.
April 12, 2021
This book is such a precious children's book. I love the simplicity and how every page starts with the same sequence of words. The pictures are all so cute and detailed. I appreciate how every page shows diversity in the babies shown; white, black, asian, and hispanic babies are all shown. They show different hair types of curly, straight, and no hair in the babies. They show diversity in the parents of the babies. All around this book has a cute message of loving babies just they way they are.
July 15, 2021
A children's book that mentions breastfeeding--unfortunately very rare! Great for parents of new babies
January 22, 2023
Fun book and DeSantis has banned this book, so of course we must read it.
February 13, 2023
Really cute and sweet book! 🥹👶🏼👼🏼
May 25, 2024
I think we should reread this on their first birthdays.
Want to read
October 20, 2025This book is on a "Porn Report," a list by a Republican group of books they want banned. The explanation is that it includes a picture of two men walking with their arms around each other.
See here:
https://youtu.be/h28316trOYU?t=206
See here:
https://youtu.be/h28316trOYU?t=206
May 6, 2024
Recommended for 1yr old+ by local book seller at Schuler Books in Ann Arbor.
April 17, 2024
This one really got 4 month old Leo "talking"! It also made Mom feel nostalgic for one of her favorite books of childhood, 7 Silly Eaters. :) And the text is so sweet! We just love it.
October 2, 2019
Such a cute book! Illustrations could have been better, I feel like this book is a bit dated. It doesn’t take away from the cuteness of it. It depicts different type of babies born in different seasons of the year who are also culturally diverse. The language is a little advance, not making it ideal for a toddler.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 299 reviews