More than 10 years ago, author/illustrator Sara Midda first published a lovely baby book as an alternative to those structured, rigid baby books with all those intimidating lines. (You know the ones.) Only for some reason, I just discovered it.
Good thing, because today it’s just as relevant as ever.
Simply titled Baby Book,
the first thing you’ll notice is the loose, fun watercolor illustrations that remind me a bit of the wonderful R.O. Blechman. Next you’ll be struck by some subtly cheeky prompts that put you at ease right away. Like, “don’t
worry if you don’t hand-calligraph every page to perfection” at ease.
For example, while one page serves up the requisite lines to record weight
and height for each of the baby’s early months, look carefully and you’ll see that
18 months skips to two years. Which skips to five years. Which skips to
85 years.
Yep. That’s my kind of baby book.
Other pages offer plenty of blank space next to headers like Mother, Father, or Before Me
that you can use for photos, poetry, or even a sentence if that’s all
you’ve got the energy for. And I like that right next to the page for Smiles is Tantrums, because as we all know, that’s what makes the best stories.
Still, this is a comprehensive baby book should you want it to be. And
if you only get through the first half (or less)? Hey, at least you’ve
got Midda’s adorable illustrations to keep it from looking too blank. –Liz
Find Sara Midda’s Baby Book online from our affiliate Amazon, or at your independent bookshop. If you have toddlers or preschoolers, check out her wonderful How to Build an A.
