By Mo Willems
Mo Willems hands the new baby a deadpan owner's manual to planet Earth, and there's a mirror in the cover so the baby is in the book too.
It's a guide. To Earth. Written for someone who has just got here and cannot read. Mo Willems takes the whole silly premise completely seriously and walks the new arrival through what they've signed up for: there are cats, there is friendship, there are people who will love you, and there is also injustice, which he mentions plainly and then moves past. The jokes are aimed over the baby's head and straight at whoever's holding the baby, which is the point. Big flat shapes, bold color, very few words. And on the inside of the front and back covers there are mirrors, so when you open it your baby is looking at a baby, and when you close it you're both in it. Most pages come back around to the same refrain about doing this together, while we read this book. That refrain is doing quiet work: the book keeps telling you what it's for.
Most new-baby books are addressed to the parents while pretending to be addressed to the baby, and they're sweet enough that some parents quietly never read them twice. This one is funny, so it survives repetition. The humor is for you, the mirrors and the big blocky shapes are for the baby, and both of you get something out of the same four minutes. It's also the rare welcome book that doesn't promise the world is perfect. It says there's injustice, says it once, doesn't dwell, and gets on with cats and friendship. A parent who winces at greeting-card sentiment will be relieved by this one.