FICTION

Day-Old Child

by Carol Lynn Pearson (text) & illus. by Corey Egbert
Gibbs Smith. Mar. 2021. 32p. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781423655336.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2–A picture book version of Pearson’s 1967 poem, “Day Old Child,” that is now widely available online. A mother speaks to her child wishing for them to grow quickly so she may tell them about God, while the child wishes they could speak and tell their mother they just came from God yesterday. In this version, Pearson and Egbert make both the child and God gender neutral. Wonderful watercolor illustrations transform the words and ideas in full-page spreads featuring beautiful colors, rich details, and casual inclusivity: a parade of different families and babies in a variety of locations. The people, with skin tones ranging from peach to brown, appear to include different ethnicities, and the families’ make-ups include interracial, same-sex, and heterosexual couples.
VERDICT An established poem about God and children gets new life with a gender neutral makeover and delightfully inclusive illustrations.
Reviewed by ­Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Lib., Troy, NH , May 01, 2021

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