Hat off, Baby!

Large, easily manipulated flaps help young readers to undress a baby ready for a bath in this chunky, boldly illustrated board book. Colourful but rather crude drawings show little of the sensitivity of line found in Ormerod's previous board and baby books: her gift for capturing expression and gesture is somewhat lost beneath the strong black outlines here. Additionally, anomalies between text and picture may prove confusing for young, very literal, readers: 'Coat off, baby' includes gloves, tossed aside; 'Top off, baby' leaves half the 'top' on; lifting the bath (tipping it up?) reveals the baby lying on a towel. Conceptually difficult, these pages need sensitive interpretation by sharers.