Baby Builders

by Elissa Haden Guest, Hiroe Nakata (Illustrations)

Caution: Babies at Work! These babies are busy building a wonderful playhouse in this bustling picture book for fans of Mighty, Mighty Construction Site .

Wearing their hard hats, safety goggles, and work boots, a team of toddlers are busy building away. Using excavators, shovels, and bulldozers, they are hard at work making their perfect playhouse blueprint come to life. Jaunty rhyme perfectly complements the playful and bouncing illustrations in this kid pleaser.

Genres: Picture Books, Construction, Childrens, Storytime, Spanish Literature, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 19, 2020

About the author

Elissa Haden Guest is the author of Baby Builders, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata and the award-winning Iris and Walter series illustrated by Christine Davenier. She holds an MFA in Children’s Literature from Hollins University and teaches classes in writing for children and young adults at College of Marin Community Education and Stanford Continuing Studies. She and her husband have two swell children and a hilarious little grandson. They live in San Francisco where they root for the Golden State Warriors.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elissa Haden Guest's career as an author took an unusual track. After publishing two YA novels in the 1980s, she made a comeback in 2000 with the first of ten Iris and Walter easy readers, the series that became her legacy. She never released another novel, but every now and then a new picture book surfaced with her name on it, and the year 2020 graced us with Baby Builders. What would happen if toddlers, eager to get their hands dirty, could work a construction site? They'd be quite a sight, strapping on safety gear and getting behind the controls of excavators and bulldozers. That's every boy's fantasy, at some point during their preschool days.

The group of construction babies in this book fully enjoy themselves as they pour a concrete foundation, shoveling mounds of dirt here and there. They deftly transfer bricks with a forklift, and "Baby masons" lay the bricks carefully to form strong, straight walls. A hardworking baby deserves a lunch break, of course; how about mint ice cream in a cone, enjoyed beside friends on a metal beam hoisted high in the air? Afterwards the babies buckle down to finish the job, and their hours of labor pay off beautifully: they have a three-story playhouse, complete with trampoline, jungle gym, ball pit, and multi-room sliding board. No one deserves a soothing evening bath and good night's sleep more than these babies, who drift into dreamland knowing the satisfaction of a hard day's work.

I love the stark realism of Elissa Haden Guest's YA novels, particularly Over the Moon (1986). I'm fond of Baby Builders for entirely different reasons. The word selection is cheerful and charming—who can resist a smile at the thought of construction workers in "Dapper jammies"?—but the book's value goes beyond just cuteness. Little kids want to contribute to the world; they imagine themselves as firefighters, police officers, construction workers, confidently doing jobs that feel rich in excitement and meaning. Baby Builders encourages that visualization, so by the time they've developed the coordination and knowhow to do important jobs, they're ready to step in and take command as they always knew they would be. Hiroe Nakata's illustrations are nice, especially the multi-panel ones; they exude a Richard Scarry vibe, high praise coming from me. Baby Builders will entertain toddlers, or even those a couple years beyond, with its gentle humor and amusing visuals. This is an engaging read.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations do not make up for uneven rhymes throughout. Clever callback to the classic photo "Lunch atop a Skyscraper." For young fans of construction, this will do.

[Rachael Belt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute artwork and fun to find the extra characters on the pages. My 2 yo loves this book and has me read it nightly

[Teresa Biggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story good illustrations. Also in Spanish

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of delightfully plump babies in diapers gets ready for their day at the construction site. With hard hats, protective eye wear and happy grins, they bulldoze, lay bricks and complete all the tasks to construct a building. Then, like tired babies everywhere, these tiny workers take a bath and go to bed, dreaming of construction projects to come. With diverse skin tones, diapers drooping, and rolls of baby fat, the babies are just adorable to see. The watercolor and ink artwork cheerfully conveys the work site and babies with bright, fresh color. Simple rhyming text reads easily, and includes onomatopoeia and lots of construction terms. A charming book for toddlers who love everything relating to construction.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very sweet, with adorable watercolor illustrations and great rhyming text, but it misses the mark a little on its audience. Babies love reading about babies, so why not make this a board book? Brighter illustrations would be more appropriate for babies as well. Still, children ages 2-5, especially those who love vehicles, will enjoy seeing these youngsters operate heavy machinery and work together to complete a fun project. The story moves through the typical progression of a day, including meals, play, bath, and bed, which will be soothing to young ones in its predictability. Overall, a fun read that would be most successful if re-released in a lap size board book format.

[Cherish Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4☆ Would recommend)
Cute book! I love how it has two different languages throughout the book. My kids love not only seeing all of the construction stuff but they are thrilled that babies are doing the construction. This book encompasses rhyme and onomatopoeia, which makes it a great book for learning.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little like muppet Babies to me. This is told in a rhyme. It's sort of funny. This is all about the cute factor of babies doing adult jobs.

The artwork is watercolor and ink. I thought the babies were very scary looking. But, the overall effect of them was cute.

I think young kids will love the cuteness factor going on. It is sort of comical and also disturbing.

[Cassie G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for my baby cousin who is obsessed with construction vehicles. I think it is a very cute story with a great rhyme scheme, educational about the various equipment and roles involved, and it teaches safety in the workplace. The illustrations by Hiroe Nakata are well done, and I love the Spanish translations by Yanitzia Canetti. I’m so excited to add this to his collection!

[Ann]

Really rich illustrations (find the little mole in the spreads!) and great use of specific vocabulary relating to construction. I would have liked it better if there was a twist like in Patricelli's "Bigger, Bigger" where we see the children playing with toys using their imagination to build.

[Dustin Dye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baby Builders has simple rhymes with fun images, such as one recalling the famous "Men at Lunch" photograph from the '30s. It instills a healthy respect for the construction workers whose products we all enjoy at an early age.

[Laura DeGrave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adorable babies go to work, constructing a building.
They have help from a mole and pill bugs.
Cute drawings in soft colors with some comical antics.
A bilingual tale translated into Spanish.
This book would be appreciated by children that love building blocks, tools, and toy cars.

[Carmen Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is sweet for babies. To read at night to your kids. The little babies work all day and then need to sleep at night. It’s a good setting for a sleepy kid. Wish it had character names and maybe a little bit of a plot but it’s a decent book.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Busy babies build a playhouse.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is definitely the highlight of this book. The rhyming is cute and reminds me of a lot of stuff that I read when I was younger.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baby builders have tough day at work building and bulldozing away in the end they are tuckered out and ready for bed.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The babies work together to make an amazingly fun house! So cute.

[Laine · Rating 4 out of 5]

if only building a house were so simple! the book explores the construction site's various jobs and safety practices within the fun rhyming scheme.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet, fun, cute book...love the pictures!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[SamSamSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorable read. Those chubby babies in diapers and hard hats - what could be cuter than that?

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute!

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. It’s cute but the fact that it’s two languages and the way they are separated is confusing. I kept having to check to make sure I didn’t skip something.

[Lillian Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

My toddler adored this book!

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and silly in a good way

[Kelly Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very silly and perfect for toddlers obsessed with construction equipment.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Baby Builders because I think babies are cute! Everyone in this book is a baby. Some of them lose their shoes, which is funny. I also like the penguin stuffy. Review by Grace, age seven.

[Lina (Carlina)]

Cute and in both English and Spanish.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storytime Themes: Construction, Baby and Me