the good people at Whoozit

This was the second book I read the whole way through with my son! It is cute, and soft for chewing but with that crinkle stuff inside it, which is fun, (oh, and a star teether) and Emmett certainly likes it, especially grabbing the big soft red ball in the middle that goes through each of its iterations, an apple or a balloon or whatever, and then turns out to be Whoozit's nose. And the thing is, I even like Whoozit--he is an endearing creature with many fun widgets and a big bright smile--and if this book had been made by a crafty grandma for a baby who was nuts about Whoozit I would totally approve, but there's just some slight whiff of marketing to the weakest and most vulnerable here that's like, out out, damned spot, you know? And even at that I'm prob being too sensitive because I think babies need many friends to make them into confidently social and not lonely and tentative toddlers, and surely Whoozit can just be a friend and Emmett's still a ways from being like "BUY ME EVERY WHOOZIT MERCHANDISE," but there is that small weird feeling about the commercial exploitation of my boy, whether this is an example of it per se or merely a prelude.… (más)