If You Were Born a Kitten

If You Were Born A Kitten by Marion Dane Bauer, illus. by JoEllen McAllister Stammen, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, hc, 1999, pbk, 2001, 32 pp. Ages: 4-8.

With poetic language and beautiful, large over-sized, double-page spread pictures, we are introduced to interesting, little known facts about baby animals at their birth. "If you were born a kitten, you'd . . ." But what every young child loves to hear the most is what about "me" being a baby. Lovingly portrayed, "You rode curled beneath your mother's heart, growing and growing. . . ., its message will touch young lives.