Skip to Main Content

About The Book

This “tidy, efficient” (School Library Journal, starred review), and endlessly satisfying picture book from beloved creator Rosemary Wells is the perfect tool for introducing baby and toddlers to language with witty humor and mischievous fun!

Little ones will delight in the imaginative illustrations that introduce each word and phrase in this pitch-perfect read aloud. The parts of speech, numbers, colors, actions, animal sounds, greetings, and descriptions of time in this book have been carefully selected as a foundation for babies and toddlers to begin understanding the words they’re showered with daily.

About The Author

Photo courtesy of the author

Rosemary Wells is the author of more than one hundred and twenty books for children in her forty-five-year career, including more than forty about the beloved bunnies, Max and Ruby, who star in their own television show on Nick Jr. She lives in New England. Visit her online at RosemaryWells.com.

About The Illustrator

Photo courtesy of the author

Rosemary Wells is the author of more than one hundred and twenty books for children in her forty-five-year career, including more than forty about the beloved bunnies, Max and Ruby, who star in their own television show on Nick Jr. She lives in New England. Visit her online at RosemaryWells.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (July 6, 2022)
  • Length: 48 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781665901161
  • Ages: 4 - 8

Browse Related Books

Raves and Reviews

*Baby-Toddler–What this book is not: “Max and Ruby Learn Some Words.” Wells has deconstructed and then composed a tidy, efficient version of how she believes children learn language in 100 words, more or less. This book includes pages of truncated nursery rhymes and concept pages of a few colors, for example, or a version of opposites (a dirty kitten next to a wet one, above a dry one and a clean one—which is the order in which a dirty child would become clean, after all). But there is more, in glimpses of prepositions, such as the rain falling “on the grass / on the tree / on the roof / not on me!” (because of an umbrella). There is much to be discussed in this book, which is part of learning, and readers of every age will find more to explore with each pass. The cast is comprised of Wells’s jolly animals, dressed in gingham or straw hats, and three humans, with various hues of brown skin and one using a wheelchair. Wells has curated McGuffey and Mother Goose into a condensed exhibition that delivers so much more than the “100 Words” the title suggests.

VERDICT This is already a perfect new mother’s present, but it’s also ideal for baby-toddler collections. A gratifying book to hand to new parents, the nursery rhymes alone will point readers to more great books.

School Library Journal, *STARRED REVIEW*, 4/2/2022

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Rosemary Wells