King Baby

Starred review from June 13, 2016
Babies rule the house. If they could talk, therefore, they would speak the way kings and queens do. Once Beaton (The Princess and the Pony) establishes her Boss Baby–esque premise, she runs with it. “I am King Baby!” a swaddled egg of an infant announces; golden rays emanate from him, and a tiny crown perches on his head. “Yes, come!” he continues, addressing a line of adoring grandparents, friends, and relatives, ready to pay homage. “You have been waiting for me. I will give you many blessings, for King Baby is generous.” The young parents, their chests puffed out with pride, stand guard by the infant bed. Later, King Baby sits on a blanket, holding his arms out for toys on the right side of the page. “Ehh bpp,” says his speech balloon—it’s what his parents hear—but the text reveals his royal instructions: “Now. Bring me the thing.” It’s less a story than an extended riff, but Beaton offers a sly, hilarious dig at the way young parents bow to their child’s every desire. Ages 4–8. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company.

Starred review from July 15, 2016
King Baby rules.In the first few double-page spreads, the swaddled, white, potato-shaped infant presides over an adoring, diverse crowd of admirers as his proud parents look on. "But your king also has many demands!" reads a later page, and his mother and father patiently meet those demands in illustrations that show them becoming increasingly exhausted. It's a well-worn theme, reminiscent of Marla Frazee's Boss Baby (2010), but Beaton keeps her book feeling fresh through humorous illustrations that expand on the wry text and never shy away from exposing the extent of King Baby's tyranny. As King Baby gets older, he learns to crawl (the sequence showing this achievement is a triumph) and then becomes "a big boy" astride a toddler's balance bike at the playground. No longer King Baby, the big boy wonders, "But what of these poor subjects? / Who are they, without a king? // And who will lead them if not I?"--and a wholly satisfying conclusion arrives with Queen Baby. Long live King and Queen Baby! (Picture book. 3-8)

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August 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-Beaton brings her well-honed snarky humor to the arena of new baby books. From the first page, the smug, egg-shaped, crown-wearing infant proclaims, "I am King Baby!" The tiny tyrant's reign of terror follows, as crowds of adoring visitors lavish him with attention and affection while he runs his parents ragged with demands for feeding, burping, changing, and bouncing. As the story progresses, King Baby undergoes important milestones, gradually transitioning from a baby to a walking, trike-riding "big boy." Just when it looks like King Baby is ready to surrender his royal crown, his replacement arrives-a little sister, Queen Baby. Beaton's hyperexpressive cartoon illustrations create a hilarious visual counterpoint to the baby's authoritarian first-person narration; on one spread, exhausted parents slump on the couch as the infant gazes victoriously over the floor strewn thick with baby paraphernalia and says, "It is good to be the king." VERDICT Similar in spirit to Marla Frazee's The Boss Baby, this is a delightful and silly tale for soon-to-be-older siblings and their weary parents.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
Preschool-G Beaton (The Princess and the Pony, 2015) brings her trademark wit to the tale of a brand-new baby. King Baby arrives with the usual fanfaregifts, kisses, and a receiving line that stretches out the door. With such fervent adoration flung at his feet, is it a surprise that King Baby has such an imperious attitude? Surely not! Beaton's cartoonish illustrations of the ovoid, swaddled infant wearing a teensy gold crown depict King Baby doing typical baby things while his parents look on lovingly. The captions, however, reveal the baby's lordly inner monologue I will give you many blessings, for King Baby is generous and his many demands BURP ME! BOUNCE ME! The contrast between Beaton's images of a cooing babe and the stern, sometimes all-caps text is pure comedy, and the story takes a sweet turn when, outgrowing his crown, King Baby becomes a big boy just in time to pass the throne on to his successor and sister, Queen Baby. Perfect for little ones getting ready to greet a new sibling.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2017
A king (really a newborn baby) greets his loyal subjects (relatives and family friends). However, like any newborn, "your king also has many demands!" When King Baby outgrows his moniker, he worries about his subjects...until Queen Baby ensures the succession. The spare, humorous text is mostly from autocratic King Baby's point of view. Unlike King Baby, Beaton's hand-drawn, digitally completed illustrations are unfussy (ha!).

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2016
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but this ruler can't yet support his own neck. A king (really a newborn baby) greets his loyal subjects (really relatives and friends of the family): I am King Baby!I will give you many blessings, for King Baby is generous. The hand-drawn and digitally completed illustrations show that he's adorable and sweet and cuddly, egg-shaped with little rosy cheeks, a benevolent-looking ruler. All smiles, he poses for photos and entertains his people. However, and this comes as no surprise, your king also has many demands! Like any newborn, King Baby is high-maintenance, unpredictable, and frequently frustrated by his parents' lack of understanding: Bring me the thingNot this thing!Bring me the other thing! His frustration motivates him to learn to crawl, then to walk. King Baby, having outgrown his moniker, worries about who will watch over his subjectsbut the arrival of Queen Baby ensures the line of succession. The spare, humorous text is mostly from autocratic King Baby's point of view (Mom and Dad get in a couple of lines of speech-bubble dialogue). Unlike King Baby himself, Beaton's illustrations are unfussy (ha!), with lots of white space; the spread in which he learns to crawl (first falling on his face) is slapstick for toddlers. It's good to be the king, Mel Brooks famously said in History of the World, Part I, and King Baby thinks so, too. elissa gershowitz

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)