Each stanza introduces a new pair of babies, and the illustrations cleverly incorporate the children from the previous stanzas onto one page, allowing readers to count not only fingers and toes but also babies. Her pencil drawings, with clean watercolor washes laid in, are sweetly similar to those in her early board books ( Clap Hands, 1987, etc.). Oxenbury’s charming illustrations depict infants from a variety of ethnicities wearing clothing that invokes a sense of place.
Whether from a remote village or an urban dwelling, a tent or the snow, Fox notes that each “of these babies, / as everyone knows, / had ten little fingers / and ten little toes.” Repeated in each stanza, the verse establishes an easy rhythm.
3-6)Ī pleasing poem that celebrates babies around the world. Dunbar’s delightfully loose illustrations in watercolor and cut paper provide a satisfying complement to Mahy’s poem, with whimsical creatures, juicy colors and lots of motion to match the kinetic energy of the text. The enumeration of hidden items ends with the discovery of an uncle’s long-long will as well as his piggy bank, assuring the family’s financial future. They find missing household items (including one of their infant twins) and a whole menagerie of creatures, from a smiling snake to a pair of blue elephants drinking tea. “Down the back of the chair” is the repeated refrain as a father and his children search for some missing keys, uncovering all sorts of animals, artifacts and leftovers in the mysterious depths of the seemingly enchanted chair. A comfy armchair upholstered in a brightly flowered print is the hiding place for a fantastic range of surprises in this rollicking, rhyming treat from the uniquely talented Mahy, winner of the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen Award.
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