Please, Baby, Please

Lee, Spike and Lee, Tonya Lewis. Please Baby Please. Illustrated by Nelson, Kadir. New York. Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers. 2002

The book Please, baby, please by spike lee and Tonya Lewis Lee falls into the category of realistic fiction. Textually, it is realistic fiction because it has a strong sense of actuality and it’s about people and events that could actually happen. In the story the characters illuminate life presenting social and personal concerns of a mother and child in a fully human context. The literary elements support this in many ways. On each page the time is given and the place is shown are vivid, realistic, and could possibly exist. The mother, daughter, and father reflect human beings we know and are authentic, fully developed, change throughout the story, and are influenced by the plot. The point of view reflects the mother’s day-to-day process. And finally the theme reflects and important issue of contemporary society of the relationship between a mother and child and child care. These themes are intrinsic situations that matters to young readers lives.

The art of this picture book was illustrated by Kadir Nelson, a Caldecott award winner whose oil paintings and realistic art helped to convey the story. Through use of warm colors he helps to put the reader into the story as well as reminding readers of a mother’s love. The pictures also a good use of the artwork on the page taking up the entire page and leaving no empty spaces. The line, shape, texture, color, and design work to highly define objects and give them a realistic feel.