Sloth Is Not a Baby!

A lovable young sloth alternates between optimism and uncertainty in this picture book, which offers a muddled portrait of goading-related risk-taking alongside info about animal adaptations. Initially confident, the protagonist climbs higher and higher up a tree, flying in the face of naysayer Worm, who says “baby sloths are scared of climbing so high.” “I’m not a baby,” Sloth muses, but her courage wavers when friend Moth obliviously dwells on the dangers of heights (“If you really think about it, you could fall. You don’t have wings like me”) and compares the features of other creatures, like Boa or Snail, that help them stay put. As the pals banter via a sometimes inconsistent mix of speech bubbles and text, Sloth buoys herself by repeating “I’m not a baby” until, at last, nerves overtake her. A storm tests the mettle of all the tree-dwellers, but the end result predictably leaves Sloth feeling very proud. Washed in pale hues, watercolor and digital renderings have a hand-sketched quality that aptly captures a range of emotions playing across the sympathetic face of the book’s intrepid arboreal protagonist. Ages 2–5. (June)