ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

A happy baby wakes up on his or her first birthday. Later, many babies, children, and parents (to say nothing of the dog) gather for an outdoor celebration featuring playtime, ice cream, and birthday cake. The text briefly describes the babies based on their actions at the moment, such as "Bossy baby," "Friendly baby," "Neat baby," and "Busy baby." And that works just fine because, for other young children, the babies' and toddlers' actions and interactions will be the most riveting part of this cheerful picture book. The babies crawl, climb, and devour ice cream cones (sometimes with help from the dog). After cake is served, the tone shifts to "Wriggly baby. Cranky baby. Tired baby." Created with shaded pencil drawings, watercolors, and digital elements, the artwork perfectly captures the mood of the day as it shifts from happy anticipation and engagement to a fractious mood, reflected in the characters' expressions and body language. With a diverse cast of endearing babies and their parents, this Australian picture book will have broad appeal among young children.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

This Australian import begins by setting the scene: "There's going to be a party" for a baby's first birthday. A spare, lilting text introduces the guests with humor and warmth. As the party progresses, cheerful (and realistic) baby-sized mayhem ensues. The day ends with a bath, bedtime, and "sweet dreams" for the birthday baby. Inviting, scribbly pencil and watercolor-wash illustrations on generous white space allow for lots of audience engagement.

Kirkus Reviews

It's a first birthday celebration for baby, and lots of baby friends join in the festivities.The book opens on baby waiting expectantly to be lifted from the crib and progresses through all of the birthday fun, showing friends arriving, cake, and ice cream before closing with bathtime, snuggles, and sleep. Godwin and Bell's text focuses on the birthday baby and friends, and the story is told almost entirely through descriptions of the babies and Blackwood's illustrations of them. "Lazy baby" describes a sleeping friend, "brave baby" goes down the slide head first, and "sad baby" has just lost dessert to the dog. No pronouns are ever used to describe the babies, and while some wear dresses or tutus, there is no specific gender attached to any particular illustration—a nice touch, whether intentional or not. Some tots are browner than others (the protagonist presents white), and a pair of twins are cued as black via their hairstyles. Blackwood's illustrations nevertheless are lovely, with her customary delicately energetic line and a palette of mostly primary red, yellow, and blue. Adult readers will appreciate the two-page spread that so accurately depicts what it's like trying to take a photo of a group of wiggly little ones. Overall, this is a nice approach to the classic first-birthday book, offering a sense of play and nuance in both the brief text and the lovely illustrations.A refreshing first-birthday book, with subtleties for adult readers and details for little ones. (Picture book. 2-5)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

It-s a baby-s first birthday, and a parade of well-wishing parents and toddlers are gathering for an informal outdoor celebration. As the adults quickly recede into the background (they occasionally appear as arms and hands distributing a sun hat or ice cream), the littlest guests display a medley of moods, chronicled in succinct adjective-noun pairs by the team behind Hattie Helps Out. -Shy baby- regards a big, grey-spotted dog (a vivid character in its own right) with some trepidation, while -friendly baby- eagerly pets the hound-s nose; -twin babies- watch in fascination as a -brave baby- slides down the slide. The kids lean against each other while licking ice cream cones, gather around for cake and for an adorably chaotic group photo, and then moods rapidly deteriorate (-cranky baby,- -tired baby-). Everyone heads home, and the birthday baby is soon fast asleep. Blackwood-s line work and watercolors, set against crisp white backgrounds, offer a sketchbook immediacy that places readers in the thick of the action; her small subjects- chubby bodies are as expressive as their faces. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)