OH, BABY! RHYMING PICTURE BOOKS WITH BABIES

I recently worked with a client whose manuscript involved a new baby. As part of our check-ups, the Rhyme Doctors recommend mentor texts, so a trip to the library and bookstore was in order.
I found many books written in rhyme that featured babies. The authors of these three diverse titles  found a new twist on the theme of babies and wrote books that I really enjoyed.

My Book of Firsts: Poems Celebrating a Baby's Milestones, by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Bruno Brogna, (Red Comet Press, 2025) is a collection of poems about the many "firsts" that a baby experiences in their first year.

Lee Wardlaw is perhaps best known for her multi-award-winning book, Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. The author has said that it took awhile for this current collection to find a home. It is definitely worth the wait! Eleven poems are each featured on one spread, accompanied by an adorable illustration. Poems ooze with poetic devices and plenty of word play. I love the third stanza's onomatopoeia:

Pink pig oinks.
Hen tut-tut-clucks.
Quack-quack-laugh,
the daffy ducks.

My Book of Firsts concludes with a place to record baby's first milestones, which makes this a wonderful gift for a baby shower.

Love Is Here with You: A Lullaby of Blessings, is by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali (Candlewick Press, 2024). As a newborn is sung to sleep, the lullaby introduces Hindu deities who will guard the baby while sleeping. I enjoyed the stanza format of three rhymed lines in the same meter, followed by a shorter, unrhymed line. Repetition of the line, "Your cradle waits for you." is soothing. The text also makes use of anaphora -- beginning clauses with the same words -- as alternating spreads begin with "Dream of...". The concluding stanza is lovely:

Gently swaying, in soft repose
In peaceful dreamland, your eyes close
My sweet baby, your heart knows
Love is here with you.

Nine Months:Before a Baby Is Born, by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books, 2019), is a celebrated book, and a wonderful title to share with an older sibling during mom's pregnancy. Spreads in the book illustrate the developing baby on the left page and depict the story of the expanding family on the right page. The text is terse, with less than 120 words telling the entire "story" part of the book. Five pages of nonfiction back matter allow for a deeper dive into the fascinating science of fetal development. 

If you are working on a picture book featuring babies, you will find many other books about babies on library and bookstore shelves, and many of those are in rhyme. These three examples show how three authors found a way to distinguish their manuscripts in a crowded field.

~ Patricia Toht