Welcome: a Mo Willems guide for new arrivals
Billed as a guide for new babies, Welcome is really a love letter to storytime. There is something for everyone inside: for babies there’s a mirror page, clear illustrations and lots of repetition; for adults there’s complex humour and lots of feelings; for older siblings there’s a poo joke.
It’s this sort of family reading, acknowledging the others in the room and inviting them in, that is at play in Willems’s latest offering. At its most skilful this book addresses all three audiences simultaneously in a great joke about cats and semiotics (this is not a cat. This is a drawing of a cat). At its least skilful, it dedicates a page to a joke about log-in codes. There is something a bit dispiriting about teaching babies about log-in codes a few pages after teaching them about their own reflection.
Illustrations are in the style of sign-posts – in-keeping with the guidebook aesthetic. Monochromatic, bold and simple illustrations are perfect for vision that is still developing. A refrain at the end of each page emphasises the bonding that occurs through sharing stories and culminates at the end in a clear statement of the book’s premise: ‘You are loved right here, right now…while we read this book together’. Witty and warm, if a little uneven.
