Bad Baby

by Ross MacDonald

Jack was having another perfect day. In fact, you could say that his whole life was perfect, except that he wanted someone to share it with. That someone arrives in the form of a new baby sister who keeps growing...and growing...until she's about ten stories tall, wreaking havoc with every step she takes. Of course, Jack gets the blame. Full of the sly, raucous humor that marked Ross MacDonald's previous books, this is the ultimate book about sibling rivalry, and one that will soon have readers young and old guffawing in recognition.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Ross MacDonald has worked as an egg candler, dishwasher, soda jerk, house painter, street artist, paper maker, and printer, but is probably best known as a magazine illustrator. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, and many other publications. He is also the author of the adult humor book In and Out with Dick and Jane, which was awarded a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators.
He lives in Connecticut with his wife, two children, four cats, and a large collection of 19th-century type and printing equipment.

Reviews

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack plays in his imagination all day but when a new baby sister comes along he learns how hard it is to be a big brother.
The illustrations paint the boy as an action figure dealing with a giant baby making big messes and loud sounds and blaming Jack for all of it. Parents are portrayed as doting on the baby. Totally over the top humor

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack's life was perfect but yet he felt as if something was missing. When his baby sister was born he was so happy, until she grew to be as baby's are - curious and into everything. Then Jack got the blame for the trouble. Cute amusing story and illustrations.

[Mouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very relatable for my son that has baby twin sisters! A cute, fun read!

[Maryanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a humorous story. The vintage style artwork is wonderful and enjoyable for all ages.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4 year old daughter chose this book at the library because she thought the title was hilarious. Flipping through the book, I wasn't sure this was going to be a hit at our house... lots of intense graphics, little word balloons and onomatopoeia don't always translate well during story time. So I was surprised at the very loud, belly-holding laughter coming from my 6 and 4 year olds throughout the reading. It was extra funny because their baby sister looks and acts just like Bad Baby (and who I'm sure will now be called Bad Baby indefinitely). I would have given this book 2-3 stars, but listening to my kids get the giggles over Bad Baby was fun enough to earn it another star.

[Petra gives a 1 star to English food & service · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphics are wonderful, huge and colourful and indicative of the power of a ten-stories tall baby. Its a very funny story and worth reading to a child for that reason but the graphics alone are really astounding.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of strange. Is Jack the boy or the toy action figure man? Or rather, since he's the boy, why is it written as though he's the toy? Does he identify with that particular toy? Clearly I'm overthinking this. Either way, my boys enjoyed this more than I did.

[Marissa Elera · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself is hilarious, and the imaginative play is very clever. However, while I'm a vintage style comic art fan, the overall effect was very convoluted and confusing and I did not enjoy it as the illustration for a children's picture book.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and funny. I liked the old fashioned cartoons quite a lot. I had fun reading it a second time through and explaining what was happening to my 4-year-old... he didn't quite understand the first time. He was quite tickled though after I'd explained it.

[Jenya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The old-fashion style pictures and the cute ending was awesome!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little brother runs around in the wake of his Godzilla-sized baby sister’s destructive path. Cute but relies too much on pictures and small details, so not so good for a read aloud.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book because the baby does things that are funny!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is three stars, but the rad, rad, rad art bumps it up to four stars. Yesssss.

[Chelsea Emery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book to read to a child who is about to have a sibling. The pictures are not great though, kind of boring.

[Ham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the vintage illustrations and the subtle humor. Makes for a snarky story without being overly negative.

[Libby In Libraryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this one, especially because the baby is so munchie cute, and that the big brother looks like Clark Kent.

[Joy Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm using it for "Giants Aren't ALL Bad" storytime