Baby Says: A Classic and Silly Picture Book About a Baby Trying to Get His Big Brother's Attention

by John Steptoe

The legendary Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author and illustrator John Steptoe shares the story of a baby who desperately wants to get his older brother’s attention. Spare text and lively illustrations tell the story of two brothers at opposite ends of a room. The older brother plays with blocks on the floor, while a curious baby boy watches intently from his crib. After repeatedly trying to get his big brother’s attention, Baby finally gets what he wants—but not before a few silly, giggle-inducing incidents occur! This classic sibling story continues to entrance.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, African American, Family, Cultural, Storytime, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

Published April 20, 1988

About the author

John Steptoe was an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books from New York City. He began working on his first children's book, Stevie, while still a teenager and achieved great success during his tragically short career, encouraging the advancement of African American culture by producing work about the African American experience that children could appreciate. Recipient of two Coretta Scott King Awards and two Caldecott Honors, Steptoe was posthumously honored by the creation of the John Steptoe New Talent Award, an award designated annually by the Coretta Scott King Award Task Force. Steptoe's best known work is Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, for which he won his second Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word can say a lot. The relationship of two brothers through single word conversations.

[Kristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

There isn't much of a story and it wouldn't work for Story Time. It would be better as a board book and a family read. Good illustrations, though.

[Viri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story line of this book is focused on a baby and his older brother who are in a room playing. The baby standing in his crib and playing/watching his older brother playing with some building blocks on the floor. When the baby throws his teddy bear on the floor the big brother gives it back, when the baby does it again, the brother takes him out of the crib and sets him on the floor next to building blocks, and when the baby knocks over the blocks the older brother gets a little upset, but baby makes him feel better afterwords with a few words: "oh oh and ok ok"
The Illustrations by John Steptoe are so beautiful, one can see the individual drawing marks on each page. They are so detail and the expressions in the characters are so good that you get into the story line visually right away. very beautiful illustrations over all.
This is a very good book, that can be a very fun read to small children who have a small baby brothers. The illustrator draws the characters in so much detail that they make them come to life. This book is indeed very good to have at hand when older brothers have trouble with their younger brothers.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the Treasury of Picture books I own. I didn't really like this when I first read it. Now, however, I like it a lot more. I think that I didn't notice the subtlety of it before. Even though it only uses 7 words, it tells a clear story of a baby and older brother playing together. My favorite part was a page with no words; the older brother gives the baby a very serious look after baby knocks over his blocks. I think before I didn't find this book that good because it didn't have many words or seem to tell much of a story. But now that I know more about how babies play, I found this book quite cute and charming.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection.

Probably my least favorite in the treasury, but my daughter loves it.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing how much emotion can be expressed with so few words. My kiddos love this book. :)

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to the book's front flap, it is "a celebration of the universality of childhood". I agree, but even more so I wish every little child had a big brother who takes such good care of them.

[Elie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite first book to read to a baby.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brief picture book about two young brothers as they play together. While the book begins with the boys at separate ends of a room, the baby brother quickly draws his brother near to him. The baby's brother repeats the words "Here," "No, no" and "Uh oh" as the baby uses his teddy bear to gain his brother's attention and knock down his brother's toys. The best part of this book is Steptoe's illustrations, which are lively and sweet. Lu especially loved the page with no text at all - where the older brother pouts next to his baby brother's close up face. However, it wasn't the most compelling book and it was sometimes difficult to match the right tone of voice when reading aloud with the image present. The type does not indicate (with bold, italics, size of font, etc.) how one should read it either. With the book's limited words and limited page count, I think a board book edition would be much more appealing and fitting for its young audience.

[Morgan Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
This Multicultural Picture Book is about a baby and his older brother. It focuses on what baby’s always want, attention. In the end, the baby gets what he wants, but I think the real meaning behind this book is the love that the brother has for his little baby brother. I think this is a good read for young children so they can see how situations, like this book, normally play out.

Analysis:
Very colorful picture book. It uses a lot of blues, yellows, and reds, giving off a happy vibe. The shading is also very bright. The book uses lots of squares in it, giving more of a stability vibe. There is also lots of vertical and horizontal lines. This gives spacing to the images and really brings them together as a whole.

[Julie Woods]

I loved this book. Even though this book had one and two words on each page that was said, the manner that it was done was superb. This book teaches the relationship between siblings. I used this book to explain to my daughter the nice way siblings should play with each other even though it may at times seem hard to be nice. Great teaching book with a few words.

[Lillian Barczynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about how people always tell kids "no." The baby in this story is throwing his toys and the brother scolds him; finally, the brother smiles and tells him "okay." I could discuss with my class why people get in trouble.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

classic. story about a little boy and his baby brother. few words, mostly pictures tell the story.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cute. Very simple, good for toddlers. AA brothers.

[Sophie Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

WORDLESS (OR ALMOST):
Baby says is about an older and younger bother and how the baby brother kind of copies what the older brother does and says. Wordless books are a little bit harder for some to grasp because you can assume whatever you want. In the book you can see the older brother playing and the baby brother watching from his crib. Eventually the older brother gets baby out to play with him and throughout the story he shares his things such as the teddy bear. Even though baby seems to make a mess, he isn't trying to do it out of meanness. Baby just plays differently then his brother and by the end of the book, I feel that older brother understand that. I love how in the illustrations one side of the pages is mainly baby in his crib and the other side is older brother playing, but in these images we can tell that it flows from one page to another. This is a book a would recommend for preschool aged children and younger because the illustrations are pleasing to the eye but where there aren't any words the child can imagine whatever they want to imagine about the book.

[Maria Fekaris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baby Says by John Steptoe is about a little baby boy and his brother. The baby is playing on his own with a big teddy bear. Then he throws his teddy bear out and the other brother busy playing with blocks stops and picks it up for baby. Baby then throws it again and the brother does the same, this time baby hit brother with the teddy bear. Eventually the brother takes the baby out and baby destroys his brother’s block structure. They then play together. Each page has very few words such as: “Uh, oh” and “No,” some even have no words. The illustrations are light, colorful and very realistic. They show the emotion very well on the characters faces. On one page there is no words but you can tell the older brother is mad at his baby brother. I would read this book to very young ages from 1 to preschool. This book can teach kids to play nice with others.

[briz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baby Brother is constantly ruining the meditative calm of preschool-age Big Brother, who clearly just wants to stack his blocks, would you leave him alone, for the love of God. Baby Brother uses tried-and-true strategies of (a) feigning helplessness and then (b) unleashing maximum charm (what a smile!). For this reason alone, deploy wisely with your children lest they learn these tricks of the trade.

Also features that historical contraption the "playpen" and not an adult in sight! Ah, a relaxing reminder of the pre-helicopter days. Also also features the best words in the English language: "NO, NO!" (complete with finger wag)

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh! Why didn't my library have this classic #OwnVoices book when my boys were little? They would have related to it *perfectly.*

Don't deprive your kiddos of a chance to enjoy it. Absolutely adorable. Universal and timeless.

Reminds me of another classic we did love, Go and Hush the Baby, but that one is a bit more complex. This is boiled down to the essence.

[Hollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty short childrens book about two brothers when they are little. The book takes place in their playroom and the youngest brother throws toys and fits. He wants to gain his brothers attention but doesn't know the best way to do it. This book sheds light on what its like to have a sibling relationship. I think its a good book for older siblings to read because the author shows that although younger siblings might not go about it in the right ways, they look up to their older siblings.

[Kaylee Klaassen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Grade Range: Pre K

I loved the relationship that was portrayed between the brothers in this book. The baby kept on throwing his stuffed bear out of his crib, but the big brother was very nice and returned it each time. The big brother never got upset or mad at his baby brother. I thought it was very cute at the end of the book when the big brother let his baby brother help him build!

[Yueyueli · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Steptoe is definitely the classic! Unlike Stevie's thick lines, the lines in this book are very delicate. The crosshatch of colored pencils is vivid to see. There are only three little phrases in the whole story“Okay/ Uh, oh/ No, no,” but Steptoe's illustrations show the baby's movement and the lovely emotional change between the brothers. Who doesn't have such a naughty and curious little family member like this?

[Sohyun seo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Altough this book has only Uh,oh, Here, No,no, Okay, the pictures are explaning what happens to them. There are only baby and a kid. The baby can not speak. Just he can express his emotion with his behavior. Also, the kid considered the baby, so he just used them. I think they are enough because its situation and sentences are perfectly matched.

[Sydney M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A toddler continually drops a toy for an older brother to pick up. The two siblings play side by side in an almost wordless scenario. The baby uses simple verbal expressions while learning to communicate. After repeatedly trying to get his big brother’s attention, Baby finally gets what he wants but not before a few silly, giggle incidents occur!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

October 2019 - such a delightful board book! Told in a minimum of words with lots of repetition, with a story that made me laugh because it's so similar to my kids' sibling dynamic. I think Eleanor enjoyed this one because it showed such familiar things. Finding a board book that's truly aimed at babies, but actually has a story is such a rare thing.

[Makayla Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story about a young child wanting ti gain the attention of his older brothers. Readers will love flipping through the pages of this color story book. What will the baby do to gain his bothers attention? Read to find out!

This book earns a 4/5 star rating. I have given this rating as the book is filled with beautiful pictures and is a fun read.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has a few short phrases that are repeated through the book. But it's a great book to read with your child by looking at the pictures and predicting (what do you think will happen next? How do you think the big brother feels? etc). The artwork is beautiful. It's a great way to talk about being an older sibling.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spare text and lively illustrations tell the story of two brothers at opposite ends of a room. The older brother plays with blocks on the floor, while a curious baby boy watches intently from his crib.

After repeatedly trying to get his big brother’s attention, Baby finally gets what he wants—but not before a few silly, giggle-inducing incidents occur!

[MindfulMuslimReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

We rate children's books for virtue, language, story, and beauty and flag content advisories when needed.

Read more at MindfulMuslimReader.com.
“Books Worth Reading”

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t particularly enjoy as the text doesn’t really match the title. Love the idea of the book, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. Exciting to note, the illustrations are timeless. I had no idea the book was decades old as the drawings are well-integrated in unaging culture.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baby Brother wants to play with Big Brother, but Big Brother wants to do his own thing. Using sparse text, similar to the minimal words a baby/toddler just beginning to talk might say, this book shows a common sibling dynamic.