Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss and Tish Rabe
| Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss and Tish Rabe | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Morris
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| Summary: A collection of classic Seuss characters, this is a little niche but sweet nonetheless. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes. |
| Pages: 40 | Date: July 2017 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0008241650 | |
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A slightly odd concept to get one's head around, Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go is both a book within a book, and a book sized advert all in one. Dr Seuss (fun fact: 'Seuss' originally rhymed with 'voice') wrote many, many books in his lifetime, and lots of us will be familiar with his best-known characters such as The Cat in the Hat and the copious numbers of adventures he wrote about such as when Horton Hears a Who. This book is different, because rather than introducing new wild and wacky characters, it brings together existing ones who may never have met each other before. Adapted by Tish Rabe (though very much influenced by Dr Seuss's originals), this book rattles through the different titles and their key characters, knitting them together with the premise that these are all people baby will meet in the future, through the wonder of children's books.
I know some Seuss well and other bits in passing, so the first thing I realised from this book was how unfamiliar I was with certain stories. Of course I was doing it all a bit backward really, because this book is supposed to be the first contact with Seuss before all the original books, and I was taking a lifetime of said books and using what I knew to work them back into this introductory summary.
It sort of works and it sort of doesn't. It was designed, following research on reading aloud to babies in utero, for the littlest of little ones, the not yet born. And while I'm sure there are many benefits to reading to a bump, I think that's more about introducing the sound of your voice, and maybe some soft rhythms, rather than prepping the foetus so it knows the characters and is ready to jump right in to The Lorax before you've even left the delivery room. It's a bit gimmicky, but of course there's nothing to stop you reading it to your baby once they are Earth-side (as the saying goes), even if the book does keep looping back to the idea of a new arrival while you are growing, we're all busy counting, the days till we meet you – excitement is mounting. It could work well to prepare children for new siblings, though.
The presentation is stunning, a large hardback book (but not so big it can't be read easily while reclining on the sofa) with a matching slipcase. It had the perfect look for a gift, and I can imagine it being popular for baby showers and similar celebrations. The pale pastel colour scheme just screams 'new baby' and the illustrations within are the epitome of Seuss, with that classic crazy and kooky style.
I would recommend this book if you know what it is, if that makes sense. It's not really new Seuss content, nor is there much of a story, but it is a gentle introduction to Dr Seuss and based on some online reviews, it is very well received by new mothers to be. We'll assume that's not just down to pregnancy hormones making them all overly sentimental.
I'd like to thanks the publishers for sending us a copy to review. If, like me, you're not familiar with every Seuss book then our Dr Seuss section has reviews of the common and less common titles from the great man.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss and Tish Rabe at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss and Tish Rabe at Amazon.com.
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