I’ll Be There

Toddler-PreS–A baby elephant shoots water through its trunk, a baby polar bear climbs a glacial hill, and a baby humpback whale breaches in the ocean while a doting parent watches. With playful rhyming text like, “I’ll be there to help you as you practice on your own. Just remember this—you’ll never ever be alone,” and engaging pastel drawings of animals and their babies, young children learn that familial bonds between various animals are just as intense as the bonds between humans. The final illustration depicts a brown-skinned male embracing a brown-skinned baby in a moonlit nursery, with all the animals in the story represented in the decorations (owls painted on the wall, humpback whales on the rug, etc.), a sweet touch sure to delight children when they make the connection. Made for new parents, this picture book can be read one-on-one while caregivers snuggle with their babies and toddlers.