Me and You: Me & You: Mother-Daughter Album

Through a series of watercolors styled as family snapshots in an album, and a simple text addressed from a baby-boomer mother to her daughter, Thiesing (Two Silly Trolls) explains how generations are linked not only by blood ties but also by the everyday experiences of growing up. ""When I was a little baby, I looked just like you,"" Thiesing begins, presenting an album page with two baby pictures, one labeled ""me"" (""photographed"" in black and white) and the other ""you"" (in color). Children should appreciate the breezy frankness of spreads like the one that explains, ""I burped and glurped and pooped, just like you""; and older children may be able to discern cultural shifts in play (ponies in the last generation, Discovery Zones in this), clothes and even care-giving (the bearded boomer dad looks infinitely more comfortable holding his offspring). But the book is ultimately a letdown: Thiesing's gentle cartoon style is pleasant but unremarkable, and in her effort to capture the cozy, prosaic quality of family pictures, she sacrifices impact and interest. Reading the book does indeed feel like looking at someone else's photo album; even so, families may be prompted to pull out their own scrapbooks for some enjoyable comparing and contrasting. Ages 2-5. (May)