Baby Love: An Affectionate Miscellany

by Rachael Hale

It is the nature of babies to be in bliss. --Deepak Chopra Award-winning photographer Rachael Hale turns her lens on a new subject, babies. Rachael Hale's luminous four-color photography captures the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0740776126
• ISBN13: 9780740776120
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Length: 161 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.1" x 10.5"

Customer Reviews

I loved this book!

I bought this book for a couple in our family at Christmas who had announced a pregnancy that we were all having some mixed feelings about. Just looking at the beautiful pictures and captions helped us all remember how precious that new little life will be!

For Anyone Who Oohs and Aahs Over Babies

Rachael Hale has created a book for anyone who loves babies, plain and simple. With wee ones ranging from 2 and a half weeks to 11 months, she captures them being exuberantly happy, perplexed, intense, thoughtful, and, to me most precious of all, asleep. Interspersed with poems, facts and sayings (we learn where the gendered pink and blue come from) about babies, her photos, especially the less-posed-looking ones, are simply stunning. On page 67, the hint of a smile plays across a baby's lips, something out of the shot catching his or her eye. The shot of three siblings slumped against each other on a couch, asleep, bits of drool escaping their little lips, is breathtaking. One, meant to illustrate "The Princess and the Pea," features a bare baby on a mini mattress, leg tucked under belly and arm tucked under head, eyes closed. That's my personal favorite. Big, often blueberry-colored eyes stare back at Hale's camera, and by extension at us, and only the most hard-hearted couldn't be swayed by them. Another child on pages 22-23 chose gums with an open moth, happiness written all over his or her face. Some of the shots seem a little too studio-friendly, rather than capturing something a baby would naturally be doing, though some of these, such as three babies sitting with flowers wound around them, still totally work. I don't have a baby of my own (yet), but I will treasure this book and show it to mine when they arrive and in the meantime, enjoy Hale's outstanding, expressive images.

Baby Love: An Entirely True Title

I've received some great books from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, but this is the first one I haven't been willing to pass on -- it's just too beautiful to let go. Rachael Hale's lovely portfolio of babies doesn't feature them as creatures or plants like Anne Geddes, but simply captures them in all their chubby, cheerful joy. Included are baby-oriented quotes (my favorites are from Charles Osgood & Teresa Morrison), nursery rhymes, tips (swaddling, bath games, folding a cloth diaper) and worldwide traditions. A wonderful book that will banish gloom & gladden the coldest heart.

Sooo Cute!!!

It is hard to believe that this is Rachel Hale's first foray into the world of baby photography, I guess she must have learned something from working with all those cats and dogs! This book is a delightful look at babies ages 2 1/2 weeks up to just shy of one year, concentrating primarily on expressions instead of props. Interspersed with the photographs are tidbits of baby tribute ranging from a rendition of "ring around the rosie" to the proper folding technique of cloth diapers. Although definitely a far cry from a "how to raise baby" guide I still think it would appeal to mothers-to-be and would make a great shower gift or a great gift for anyone who adores babies. As a newbie to babyography Ms. Hale has shown an adept eye for catching babes at their most innocently adorable moments and this would be a delightful addition to any library or coffee table.

Every page is an experience in the making

If you love babies you'll love Baby Love: An Affectionate Miscellany, by Rachael Hale. A collection of photographs that will have you smile from page to page - enhanced by small tid-bits, poems, rhymes etc. The perfect gift for soon to be parents or grandparents. Every page is an experience in the making. Hale does a wonderful job capturing the moment - those expressions that every parent gets to see, but doesn't have the time, knack, or luck to get of their own baby.