It’s Hard to Be a Baby

“Hey there, babies./ I hear you.// Everyone thinks your lives are easy,” begins the compassionate narrator of this picture book focused on infant experiences. As digital illustrations by Medina (Elena Rides) depict round-headed, dot-eyed infants fussing and crying, the voice breaks down the truth. Babies arrive from a “warm and dark and quiet” place into a world that’s “cold/ and bright and LOUD”; in this realm, “You have to tell these people everything.// When you’re hot./ When you’re hungry.” And if that’s not enough for infants to endure, myriad complicated outfits—shown festooned with ruffles and accessorized with elaborate headgear across a full spread—are foisted on them, too. “But hang in there, babies.// Good things are coming,” the narrator promises: smiles and laughter, a regular sleep schedule, a diet that’s both tasty and highly interactive, and all kinds of interesting milestones. But whence does this wisdom come? As Klein (Hamsters Make Terrible Roommates) reveals, from an actual former baby who is now a confident, happy kid. There’s something for everyone in these gently funny pages: warmhearted solace for new parents, support for freshly minted siblings, and tender empathy for the very newest among us. Ages 2–5. Author’s agent: Brianne Johnson, HG Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Gillian MacKenzie, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. (Oct.)