If your idea of a perfect board book for people under the age of three is Sandra Boynton’s 1982 classic “Moo, Baa, La La La!,” you might be surprised to discover what’s passing for toddler literature these days. Forget the silly animal high jinks, the humble slapstick of peekaboo and patty-cake, and the earnest overviews of shapes, colors, and numbers; some of today’s baby books have far loftier ambitions. A sampling of titles from the past decade: “Bath Time Physics,” “General Relativity for Babies,” “Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering!,” “Baby Loves Thermodynamics!,” “Baby Loves Quarks!”
Open the sturdy turquoise cover of Ruth Spiro’s “Baby Loves Coding!,” illustrated by Irene Chan, and you might be lulled into thinking that this is, indeed, a book for very young children. It’s small (about seven inches square), short (only ten spreads), made of chunky cardboard, and full of bright colors. It starts off promisingly, with a smiling toy train rolling toward a bobbleheaded, pink-cheeked baby.
Read the article here.