The Day the Babies Crawled Away

by Peggy Rathmann

Book Overview

From the creator of Good Night, Gorilla comes another bedtime adventure

What a lovely day at the fair. Children lining up for pony rides . . . moms and dads in a pie-eating contest . . . babies chasing butterflies . . . babies heading for the trees . . . I SAY Where are those babies GOING? Only a small boy sees them leaving and follows as the babies chase butterflies in trees, frogs in a bog, even bats in a cave, ignoring pleas...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039923196X
• ISBN13: 9780399231964
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 11.9"
• Age Range: 2 to 5 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Kindergarten

Customer Reviews

Great book

Fantastic read!!! My 3 year old and 18 month old love this book. My 3 year old asks to read it over and over! Great visuals it keeps their attention! I have become a huge Peggy R fan!!!!

fabulous...like all Rathmann books

I've owned this book for my oldest daughter's entire 3 1/2 years (got it before she was born) & I'm only now writing a review because I'm shopping for a new copy. The original, 2 daughters later, has been read and read and read to the point 4 of the pages are ripped & taped, there are thumb-smudge marks all over, and the spine is practically off. Needless to say, this (along w/ every other Peggy Rathmann book) is one of their favorites. It's funny and lighthearted but like all Rathmann books the best part is the way she gets your children to practice their powers of observation and association. Patterns are placed for my kids to pick up on, like the little creatures that join the boy on his quest and the curious personalities of the babies (one in particular). Great book! And to the reviewer who said "I also miss the clues and hidden references to previous books", look in the pages before the title one and you'll find a policeman & his faithful dog (doing one of her classic tricks on another page)...

Deserved the Caldecott Award and Many Others

Rathman, a well-known author/illustrator (i.e., Officer Buckle and Gloria, a Caldecott Medal winner, and Good Night Gorilla) has created an enchanting and irresistible rhyming tale here. A young boy becomes a hero by rescuing and eventually returning a gang of mischievous, runaway babies to their grateful parents. This unique storyline is beautifully brought to life in even more unique illustrations. The illustrations are almost completely done in silhouette. The entire landscape, the young hero, the adorable and troublesome babies, and all the butterflies, birds, frogs, and bats they encounter are all done in black silhouette. But wonderful, lively colors are introduced into the illustrations. All of the silhouettes are set against beautifully colored, wondrous skies. These amazing skies range from a beautiful, blue green sky with puffy white clouds in the beginning to a rainbow-colored, sunset sky to a stunning, purple night sky filled with lively white fireworks. Preschoolers are sure to enjoy the rhyming text and heroism of someone their own age and be captivated by probably unfamiliar artistic method of silhouette. This book is likely to inspire many to try this style themselves. Highly recommended for ages 3 to 10. I'm shocked that this truly exceptional picture book did not win the Caldecott award in 2004(for the most distinquished American picture book published in the preceding year) or at least get picked as a Caldecott Honor Book (basically a "finalist"). I'm also surprised that there is no indication of other award it won or should have won. For example, it won the 2004 Northern California Book Award award in the Children's Literature category.

Babies Away!

There is no justice in the world. None at all. Ladies and gentlemen I direct your attention this evening to "The Day the Babies Crawled Away". Now this is a tale told entirely in silhouette. It is accomplished and witty, ending with a touch of sentiment that brings an actual honest-to-goodness tear to the eye. And yet what did author Peggy Rathmann win the Caldecott Award for? For the phenomenally less deserving and trite, "Officer Buckle and Gloria". A fine book, but not even a hair close to the brilliance of this, her latest text. The book begins in the early morning. A fair is being set up next to a group of houses. The narration speaks to the reader. "Remember the day The babies crawled away?" And later... "Remember the way You tried to save the day?" So we follow our protagonist, a boy in a fireman's helmet as he frantically follows five fast moving babies. The boy follows them from the woods, to the swamps, into caves and on ledges. The babies find themselves in perilous situations, and the intrepid young boy must find a way to save them all and get them back home safe and sound. When he returns to the fairgrounds, babies in tow, the grown-ups cheer him soundly. That night, boy and babies fall asleep in their parents' arms after a long and exhausting day. It sounds cutesy, no question, and it isn't. Not in the least. First of all, technically it's remarkably adept. The silhouettes are so detailed and delicate that you find yourself discovering all sorts of tiny details on every page. Is that Officer Buckle and Gloria on the title page? Is the trophy given to the boy at the end topped with a pie? And how did Rathmann draw an exploding water balloon so well in silhouette? Looking at the babies, you can see that each one is differently drawn. There's the bonnet baby, the baby with one curl, the cornrows baby, the dredlocks baby, and the smallest baby of all that spends almost all of this book upside down. Rathmann uses the silhouette technique to her own advantage at critical times. When the babies collapse as a sleepy pile on top of their boy rescuer, the viewer can only make out a hand here, a heel there, and a wild assortment of perching birds, butterflies, and frogs. As for the text, it really does give credit where credit is due. The boy has saved the babies and as a reward we are shown a scene that touched me deeply. The boy sits on his mother's lap in the fading evening light. His fireman's hatted head is tipped gently towards his mama who is kissing him sweetly. In her hair, a butterly perches and the book says, "You told me your story, I brewed you some tea, then you fell fast asleep in a small pile on me" It's enough to break your heart. And I haven't even gushed to you about the shifting colors of the day from early morning to the bright light of noon, and eventually the cool colors of twilight. For a book that deals up a healthy heaping of black, this is one of the most colorful (and lovely) picture

Five stars for "Babies Away"!!

I thought this book looked a little bit different. We have many, many books at our house, and something a little different sounded nice. My two year-old LOVES it. She calls it "Babies Away", and asks for it over and over. I think it is the rhyming that she likes most, and when my 7 year-old daughter reads it to her, she will read most of the page, and let my two year old yell out the last word, which of course she remembers since we read it so often..........LOL We also like the way the pictures are done. My girls don't seem to have a problem with the fact that you don't see much detail...........as a matter of fact, I think it leaves more to the imagination.This book gets a big thumbs up from me, as well as from my two year old............and I guess I should add that my 7 year-old really enjoys reading it to her little sister(:

A Great Tale of Heroism From Peggy Rathman

One day, while the adults are distracted at a picnic, the babies crawl away. The only one who sees them leave is the hero of the story, a child in a fireman's hat. The babies crawl and the child chases. Eventually the babies are rounded up and returned to the parents and the hero gets a much deserved rest.While the tale is simple, the illustrations add a wonderful dimension to the story. The pictures are done in a silhouette style but with no lack of detail. We see the babies crawl, hide in trees, and other antics. My favorite is the baby with a bow who starts hanging upside down like the bats. In the final scene we see this baby and a parent both hanging from the rafters.A delightful book with detailed illustrations and fun rhymes. Kids learn that even little kids can be heroes. Check out all of Peggy Rathman's books.