Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

Starred Review Gleeful after choosing new white shoes at the store, Baby (actually a toddler) leads his pregnant mama on a merry chase. As they head home, Baby playfully explores the park, where grass, plums, fresh crosswalk paint, and more add their distinctive hues to his increasingly polka-dotted, / puddle-stomping, / rainbow-romping, / go-go-going shoes. In the text, loping lines of rhymed couplets are interspersed with staccato sections, followed by a refrain that reins in the pace: Baby says, Uh-oh!'/ Mama says, Oh, no!' / But those shoes just go, go, go. The verse may at first seem a bit challenging to read aloud, but the changing rhythm creates a pleasing pattern and gives listeners places to chime in. Setting a sunny tone for the excursion, Nakata's airy watercolor artwork sympathetically depicts an increasingly scruffy toddler and his tired but resilient mother. With a buoyant tone in both verse and illustrations, this book will be a fine addition to story hours and, given young children's affinity for shoes, a great conversation starter.

Horn Book (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

A toddler wearing a brand-new pair of shoes proceeds to dirty them with red chalk, green grass stains, purple plum juice, etc. The refrain "Baby says, 'Uh-oh!' / Mama says, 'Oh, no!' / But those shoes just go, go, go" punctuates this rhymed ode to inquisitiveness. Warm watercolors reassure the reader that despite Mom's protestations, she's in on the fun.

Kirkus Reviews (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

What happens when an active toddler gets a pair of brand-new shows? Lots! Mama lets Baby chose new shoes "white as light" with a "stripe of blue." The swell new white shoes are so "high-jumping, fast-running [and] fine looking" that Mama and Baby take a walk. Along the way, Baby draws with red chalk, spins in green grass, steps on purple plums, hops across fresh yellow crosswalk paint and splashes in muddy brown puddles. Every time Mama tries to stop Baby, his new shoes "just go, go, go." By the time Mama and Baby get home the new white shoes aren't white any more, but "colored bright in many hues." Lighthearted multi-hued watercolor illustrations show an exuberant Baby doing everything a wee boy will do when he's got spiffy new shoes. Fast-moving rhyme and playful illustrations invite kids on the go to scuff, scrape and have a blast breaking them in. (Picture book. 2-6)

School Library Journal (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

PreS-The only thing more fun than watching Baby get new shoes is seeing him get them dirty. As the story begins, a toddler and his mother are leaving a store with some "High-jumping,/fast-running,/fine-looking/shoes!" The boy leads his mother on a merry adventure across town where his white footwear gets covered in colored chalk, grass stains, plum juice, and yellow paint. Along the way, Baby and Mama exchange "Uh-ohs!" and "Oh, nos!" The story culminates in the diaper-clad youngster resplendent in "Those/speckled, spotted,/polka-dotted,/ puddle-stomping,/rainbow-romping,/go-go-going shoes," trying to flee his day-end bath. The smooth-flowing text contains wonderful repetitive phrases. The watercolor illustrations are warm and inviting and the expressions on the characters' faces are particularly delightful. A grand choice for one-on-one sharing, as well as for storytime.-Linda Zeilstra Sawyer, Skokie Public Library, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.