Because it seems like the premise just goes out the window. So it was just a bad day, like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad ? I'm confused. At the height of his evil, without any clues from the narration, the bad guy mustache suddenly fades, and we're told that Billy was merely having a 'bad mustache day.'īut wait, I thought we were waiting to see if he was definitively good or evil. A baby is born with a mustache, and time will tell if it's a 'good guy mustache or a bad guy mustache.' Naturally, Billy goes through stages of both. What's funny also is how fast the story fades from the premise.

But it's become rather annoying the more I read it. Or if Bridget Heos really doesn't care if the kids get the whole story. I'm wondering if this problem is on the illustrator, Joy Ang, trying to transcend a one-dimensional story and make this more dynamic. Which is why this book trying to be clever and ironic is actually counterproductive to educating my daughter. So I can't imagine what she's thinking looking at this picture. My 1.5 year old daughter, however, doesn't understand irony. And that's great for me, the adult, because it's funny, because I understand irony. Because the picture says one thing, and the words say the opposite. There's a picture showing a smug Billy the Cop and his very annoyed older siblings, but the words tell us that 'Everyone loved having Officer Billy around.' That's irony. Unlike most books for this age group, the words often don't correspond to the pictures, which is confusing and leads to digressions which divert from the narrative. But within its strength also lies its weakness. Mustache Baby can be read on many levels, which is interesting for a book marketed for 2-5 year olds.

Having read this probably 100 times, I think that qualifies me to review this book for toddlers.

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos