About Face

Supermodel Cindy Crawford and her young son, Presley, show moms and dads that communication does not begin and end with spoken words. Silly faces, flailing arms, big grins, a fist rubbing an eye--all these gestures and expressions speak volumes when Baby doesn't quite have the words to communicate feelings and needs. And when parents respond to their infants' body language, they are sending a very clear message: "I hear you. I'm here for you. You're safe. I love you." About Face is a bouncy, playful romp with a valuable ulterior motive: to get parents to follow their intuition when it comes to communicating with their babies--and to encourage children to fall in love with words and other forms of language. Author Ellen Schecter's goofy wordplay ("Let's be GROWL-Y, prowl-y, howl-y, and jowl-y, then share grrreat big bear HUGS when we're done.") make the text amusing for readers, even if the rhymes are somewhat forced at times. Photographer Jade Albert and illustrator Paul Harwood intertwine cute photos of babies (and Crawford) with imaginative pastel designs. (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter