While walking to school, lugging a heavy backpack through New York City one morning, a disgruntled child questions why babies are so lazy, spending their days on useless activities such as napping and babbling rather than getting jobs.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Orchid Thief comes a smart, hilarious take on what babies contribute—or don’t—to the world.
Ever experienced stroller envy? Ever wished you were applauded just for walking across a room? Ever wanted to loaf about the park on a blanket in the middle of a school day with nothing on your agenda but being relaxed and happy? Then you should be a baby. They’ve got it made.
In this charming, droll story, a world-weary older sister ponders the question, why don’t more babies work? Her answers, hilariously tinged with resentment, offer up a wickedly accurate picture of just how great babies have it.
Known for her keen and witty observations of various subcultures, Susan Orlean here turns her gaze on babies. The resulting picture book is tongue-in-cheek fun for older siblings and anyone looking for a lazy, praise-filled day.
Arvustused
Struggling off to school beneath a huge backpack, a disgruntled child fulminates about how her urban world seems filled with babies lolling idly about. Following a particular specimen (who turns out to be her own sibling), she delivers acid comments about infants sporting sunglasses, learning to walk - "Is it possible they don't work but still go out for a three-bottle lunch and get a little tipsy?" - and spending long days hanging out in Central Park. Well-decorated with baby ads and posters, Karas's paint-and-photocollage street scenes form a backdrop for squads of happy toddlers and leave the narrator, who ruefully concludes that babies really don't work because they're too smart, peering out of the school door as a passing rugrat delivers a Bronx cheer. A chuckle-inducing rant in the fine old tradition of Martha Alexander's Nobody Asked Me If I Wanted A Baby Sister (1971). (Picture book. 6-8) (Kirkus Reviews)
Susan Orlean is a staff writer for the New Yorker. She is the author of several books, including The Orchid Thief, which was inspiration for the movie Adaption. She currently resides in New York and Los Angeles, USA. G. Brian Karas has written and illustrated several award-winning children's books, including On Earth and Home on the Bayou: A Cowboy's Story, a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor Book. The picture books he has illustrated include Are You Going to Be Good?, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Mr. Karas lives in New York, USA.
