03 Dec / Reaching by Judy Ann Sadler, illustrated by Susan Mitchell
It’s another weekend … which, if you’re a parent, means you’re probably driving (or, if you’re lucky enough to have options other than being stuck in your car, you’re walking, bus-ing, subway-ing) helter-skelter trying to get your kids to practice, games, meets, study groups, meetings, and on and on …
In our too-hurried, overscheduled lives, we all need the occasional reminder to reconnect with our families. Indeed, raising a baby takes at least a whole village of extended family … oh, but the reward of those soft snuggles! [Anyone have a baby I can borrow for a few hours?]
Mama, Daddy, Sister all reach out to Baby to huddle and cuddle. Grandma and Grandpa, Oma and Opa are happy to play, while cousins join in on the fun (Puppy, too!). Great-gran is ready with a book, while Auntie and Uncle lovingly hover near by. So many family members buoy up Baby, until all too soon, “Baby is reaching / For everything new / Looking and pointing – /There’s so much to do!” Thankfully, his parents have a little more time before “Baby will reach / For the moon and the stars … / But not quite yet, Baby, / For now you’re still ours!”
Author Judy Ann Sadler creates a gentle lullaby while illustrator Susan Mitchell adds a colorful touch … not just in her choice of color palette but with clearly multicultural grandparents (Oma and Opa in addition to Grandma and Grandpa) and multi-ethnic cousins and Auntie, too. In today’s world of shifting borders, Reaching is a timely reflection of the global village in so many of our own families!
Readers: Children
Published: 2011