Hello, friends! Our book today is Your Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA, written by Jimmy Fallon and illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez, a tongue-in-cheek picture book that pokes fun at certain fathers’ obsession with “Dada” being their baby’s first word.

On each spread, a pair of animals can be seen: father and child. “Dada,” says a bull with a grumpy expression to his calf. “Moo,” the calf replies. Each page repeats in the same manner, with the often surly-looking father repeating “Dada!” while their offspring replies with their unique animal call. At last, all the daddies gather together for one more try, with slightly more promising results… well, for the most part.

This has become a popular baby gift since it was published, and it’s easy to see why. It’s simple, has a humorous premise, and is a quick and easy read for little ones. The illustrations are no-frills, with characters constructed from basic shapes and environments that consist mostly of a single-color sky, ground, and a farm-themed embellishment or two. I wasn’t wild about how angry many of the daddy animals looked; it gave some of them a slightly sinister or aggressive feel that threw the tone off. However, it’s not a bad introduction to animals and their sounds, and yes, there is liberal repetition of the word Dada – even JJ was echoing it by the end. Honestly, a bit of a mixed bag for us, but it could be a fun read for very little bookworms and their, ahem, DADAS. Baby Bookworm approved!