cover image See How I Grow

See How I Grow

Angela Wilkes. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley), $9.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-56458-464-9

A precocious narrator chronicles her progress from infancy to 18 months of age in this expressive photo-essay. With typical DK verve, crystalline photographs are exuberant; however, the compositions are less animated than usual, and the text may strike some as occasionally precious (``I will eat just about anything as long as it tastes nice''). Also, the reader must be willing to accept the somewhat shopworn premise that the neonate narrator has the knowledge and verbal skills of an adult: ``I chatter all the time in my own baby talk.'' Small details add panache: photographic strips depicting progressive activities form horizontal borders; tiny objects at the corners of each spread relate to the activities portrayed. Appealing but slightly off the mark. Ages 2-6. (Apr.)