My First Day
by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page; illus. by Steve Jenkins
Preschool, Primary Houghton 32 pp.
1/13 978-0-547-73851-2 $16.99
“What did you do on your first day — the day you were born? Probably not much” begins this book about baby animals’ first hours of life. Jenkins and Page’s simple text effectively highlights the differing degrees of independence of a variety of species’ young. Brief descriptions touch on the animals’ range of mobility (some can walk or swim, others must be toted about), sustenance (mothers’ milk versus solid food), and the ways in which parents use patterns, sounds, and scents to recognize their young. “On my first day, my mother held me close so I wouldn’t drift out to sea,” says a sea otter. “I dozed on her belly while she floated in the waves.” “On my first day, I trotted along with my mother,” boasts a young blue wildebeest. “My herd was on the move, and I had to keep up!” Jenkins’s torn- and cut-paper collage illustrations employ rounded edges and fuzzy textures to maximize the adorableness of the newborns as they take their first looks, steps, or leaps. End pages provide additional facts about the adult and baby creatures.
About Danielle J. Ford
