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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

A busy mama at a traditional Nigerian market carries a large basket on her head and a small baby on her back. As she goes from stall to stall making her purchases, she doesn’t notice that Baby is on a shopping expedition of his own. Each place Mama stops, Baby attracts the attention of a shopkeeper who gives him something to eat—six bananas, five oranges, four chin-chin biscuits, three roasted sweet corns, and two pieces of coconut. Baby eats one of each and puts the rest into the basket on top of his mother’s head. She is completely oblivious to it all until she realizes how heavy her basket has gotten and is surprised to see it filled with things she didn’t buy. Even once the shopkeepers explain, she doesn’t realize Baby has been eating all along and is eager to get home and feed her (presumably) hungry child. The humorous patterned text is filled with specific cultural references, which are reinforced in the detailed multimedia illustrations by an artist who grew up in Ghana and Nigeria. Honor Book, 2018 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 2-4)

CCBC Choices 2018 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2018. Used with permission.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2018
While Mama shops, sellers discreetly give Baby, strapped on her back, all kinds of treats: five juicy oranges, four sugary chin-chin biscuits, and so on. Baby eats one of each and puts the others in the basket perched on Mama's head. A counting experience, a rhythmic text, and exuberant mixed-media illustrations of a bustling West African marketplace add up to a wonderful read-aloud.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

February 1, 2018

Toddler-PreS-A joyful black baby and his mother go shopping in an open air market in West Africa, where unbeknownst to Mama, baby is busy collecting his own wares from a variety of vendors. The rhythmic text is perfectly suited for reading aloud, and young listeners will quickly pick up on the inside joke between author and listeners as the illustrations feature the mischievious baby on Mama's back, adding his own items to the wide brimmed basket balanced atop her head. "Market is very crowded. Baby is very curious. Baby is so curious that Mrs. Ade, the banana seller, gives Baby six bananas. Baby is so surprised. Baby eats one banana...and puts five bananas in the basket." The pattern of Mama shopping for her own goods and adding them to the basket, and Baby being given treats to snack on and store in Mama's basket, turns the story into a clever count along. Brooksbank's debut as illustrator is strong. The vibrant marketplace is filled with color, texture, and patterns created using a mixed-media palette. The opening and ending endpapers feature the same pattern that is on the wrap Mama uses to hold Baby on her back. VERDICT Young listeners will delight in getting to know Baby and his Mama as they shop throughout the market. Consider for first purchase in larger collections.-Lisa Kropp, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

September 1, 2017
Baby is so charming that various vendors in this West African market gift him all sorts of yummies. Baby rides on Mama's back, held snug by a bright cloth wrap. Mama navigates the busy, colorful outdoor market, her woven basket balanced on her head. The text unrolls rhythmically in Atinuke's storyteller's voice: "Market is very crowded. Baby is very curious. Baby is so curious that Mrs. Ade, the banana seller, gives Baby six bananas." Baby eats one and puts the remaining bananas in Mama's basket. All the while Mama shops, unbeknownst to her, vendors continue to respond to Baby's transparent delight with five oranges, four "sugary chin-chin biscuits," three "roasted sweet corn," and two pieces of coconut. With each delicacy given, Baby eats one and puts the rest in the basket. When Mama sees all the extra foodstuffs she didn't buy, she's concerned, until the vendors reassure her: "We gave those things to Baby!" In her debut picture book, Brooksbank offers bright, bustling tableaux of shoppers, vendors, and goods. The smiling, all-black cast sort through myriad wares, while the text keeps up its rhythm, introducing both typical items bought in a West African market and a gentle lesson in arithmetic as Baby alternately snacks on and stashes his gifts. Indeed, no one will be able to resist this baby. (Picture book. 3-6)

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