Cuetara's two previous books of poetry and cartoons (Terrible Teresa and Other Very Short Stories; The Crazy Crawler Crane and Other Very Short Truck Stories) practically define pithy urbanity, but the subject of babies seems to have softened her edge. Here she offers 24 quatrains and drawings on infant and toddler subjects ranging from "Waking" to "Sleeping," with stops in between at "Screaming," "Pooping" and other adorable or maddening activities. Each poem has a similar closer: "Hungry little baby," "Stinky little baby" and so on. In the funniest and sharpest of the bunch, "Visitors," a baby in a striped sleeper stands on his mother's lap, firmly grips her cheeks in his tiny hands. Locking a steely, nose-to-nose gaze on her, he renders any conversation with her friends impossible: "Aaron doesn't really care/ Whether Mommy's friends are there./ Doesn't see why he
should share./ Demanding little baby." Unfortunately, many of the poems come across as mundane ("Listen to Katrina sing/ In her automatic swing./ This is baby's favorite thing./ Dizzy little baby"), while others seem designed for adults more than youngsters ("Malcolm's toy box overflows/ With proper toys his parents chose./ But grown-up toys are best, he knows./ Wily little baby"). Ages 2-up. (June)
