REVIEW: Please, Baby, Please

Lee, S., & Lee, T.L. (2002). Please, Baby, Please. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

0689832338

As with No David and Love You When You Whine, Please, Baby, Please shares a parents' frustration of trying to get a child to behave. As can be discerned by the title, Please, Baby, Please is a rather polite version of asking a child to eat their veggies, go to sleep, not draw on the wall, etc. set within a one-day period. This book does include the child's voice as well at the end, in a shift away from those other books' approaches

It is worth noting that Kadir Nelson's illustrations feature an (ADORABLE!) toddler, in a much more positive light than David Shannon's caricatures of himself in No David or the vaguely disturbing bunnies in Love You When You Whine. It also seems very intentional that this is a positive representation of an African American middle class family.

It is worth noting that the "Lee, S." at the top of this post, is famous director Spike Lee.

Activities to Do with the Book:

Not only can this book be used to help a young child learn to say "please," it can also reinforce the rules of proper conduct in various potentially messy situations.

Also, each page includes a clock telling the time that the child is interacting with her parents (in one case, the clock is digital, but most are analogue). Although there are also setting cues of the approximate time, this book can be used to introduce children to the way time passes and how to tell time.

While the words "please" and "baby" are repeated on every page, they are not always in the same order. This book may be used to help with early literacy since a teacher or parent could help the child distinguish between the two words.

Favorite Quotes:

“Go back to bed, baby, please, baby, please."

"Don't eat the sand, baby baby baby, please."