Can't Stop Kissing That Baby

December 16, 2024
Going and Lee spotlight mother-child bonds in this snuggle-inducing story. Rhythmic second-person lines articulate variations on, “Silly momma!/ She so loves kissing the baby./ So loves,/ yes, she just so loves.” Accompanying scenes—rendered in soothing washes of periwinkle, pumpkin, and sage—support with naturalistic depictions of parents of varying skin tones luxuriating in baby hugs all throughout the day as their cherubic charges laugh and smile. As arrayed mothers and babes converge at a park picnic table, the incredulous narrator playfully queries: “Are you still kissing the baby?” And even after a dog and other humans join in, text celebrates the way mommas “never run out of those kisses.” Text and visuals combine for a glowing portrait of doting caregivers. Ages 4–8.

January 15, 2025
Several families share a picnic in the park, full of affection. As the day begins, Momma ices a cake in a warm, modern kitchen while a dog snoozes nearby; in a shadowed back bedroom, another parent attends to a sleeping tot. Spare and repetitive verse calls for a melodic read-aloud as Momma heads over to the crib: "She can't stop kissing the baby. / Can't stop, / just can't stop. // No, she can't stop kissing the baby." Outside, the couple share a snuggle with their child as they walk a dog, a bicycle, and a stroller along a verdant boulevard. Meanwhile, the bouncy verse continues ("Oh, you've gotta stop kissing that baby") as another couple take their infant to a cafe. The characters vary in skin tone; their hip hairstyles and comfortable-looking clothes make them broadly relatable--and provide a playful, stylized counterpoint to the at-times forceful sweetness of the text. A variety of happy families move through this idyllic neighborhood, watching a soccer game, buying flowers, and taking a turn on the park's swings before gathering at a picnic table. It's a meal full of activity, so it's no wonder the baby from the beginning--now sporting a birthday hat--seems to be asleep in Momma's arms as they head home. "Very best mommas!" the unseen narrator proclaims. "They never run out of those kisses." A singsong paean to the cuddly days of early childhood.(Picture book. 4-8)

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