Boom, Baby, Boom Boom!

When Mama offers Baby a delicious lunch, she doesn’t know the animals are listening at the window. But as soon as Mama starts relaxing in her favourite pastime of banging the drums with a ‘Boom diddy-boom-biddy Boom Boom Boom’, the animals scramble for the door.

And against the syncopated rhythms of the drumbeat and musical language, the animals amble, scuttle, lollop and creep into the kitchen to feast off Baby’s lunch, thrown excitedly from her highchair. Before Mama can stop her drumming, the animals have trotted and cantered off. Fortunately for Baby, she doesn’t go hungry because her Mama gives her a lovely banana for pudding.

Margaret Mahy could make any story special with her love of language and narrative and her words are well served by the rich, creamy-painted illustrations full of vivacity and verve. A winning partnership.