Bye Bye Baby

A motherless infant has to do everything for himself - even change his nappy - till one night he decides he needs a mummy. Next day he determinedly sets out to find one, meeting on his journey a cat, a teddy, a clockwork hen and an old uncle, all of whom join in the search and share in the happy ending, for baby finds not only a mummy but a daddy, too. Although some adults may be concerned at the idea of an old man offering to be the baby's uncle and a woman pushing an empty pram picking up a baby and taking it home, the postwar setting distances the story from present-day fears of child snatching and abuse. There's much domestic detail to savour in Janet Ahlberg's water-colours: the clothes horse beside the grate and old uncle's orange and white-covered Penguin book which appears in more than one scene offer nostalgic glimpses of the recent past and are, of course, a history lesson for young readers and listeners who share this unlikely and highly enjoyable story.