City Baby

City Baby is a natural addition to author Laurie Elmquist’s Beach Baby and Forest Baby and will come as a welcome exploration of a busy metropolis environment after many of us have been largely confined to our homes over the past year. In the board book, a mother and her young child in a stroller move throughout the city, spending time blowing bubbles, making silly faces in windows, stopping for coffee and books, and seeing all that a city has to offer. It will be comforting and familiar for any parent who has enjoyed the extraordinary perspective that a baby brings to ordinary things.

The text is fairly simple and appears to function as almost one long sentence. It likely would have benefitted from some type of rhyming structure as, when it is read aloud, it can sound a bit stilted. The city’s diversity is well-represented and appreciated. People of all ethnicities are shown as both main characters and additional people encountered in the bustling city.

The paper-collage illustrations by Ashley Barron are beautiful and provide full-page colour depictions of city life that make you feel as if you are right there along with them. The final scene of a twirling street dancer in a bright dress is the star of City Baby with both its attention to detail and vivid colours.