The initial title in a five-book series exploring the first five years of life, Hello Benny presents facts about human development from birth to age one, imbedded within the story of baby Benny’s first year. Benny’s tale is told in large black type on each page, while corresponding information about infant development is made clearly distinct by virtue of its smaller purple font and enclosure in a box. Large illustrations of Benny and his family expand the fictional story, and smaller cartoon-type images accompany the factual content. The expected landmarks of babyhood are included, from birth and baby vocalizations and emotions through rolling over, crawling and first steps. The details presented were selected to be of interest to young children, including a description of the taste of formula (“a stronger taste [than the milk we drink] because extra vitamins, salt, sugar, and fat have been added to it”) and early language development (“All around the world, most babies about a year old say words that sound like 'Dada’ and 'Mama,’ no matter what language their families speak. At first, babies say these sounds because they are trying out all the sounds they can make and it’s fun. Later they learn that 'Mama’ means 'Mommy’ or 'Dada’ means 'Daddy.’ ”) A large picture book format and a realistic baby’s debut will hold great appeal to young children nostalgic about their own recent past. (Ages 4-7)

Children love to hear the stories about what they were like and all the wonderful, amazing, interesting, and funny things they did from birth through the first few years of their lives. They also have endless questions about those wonderful years:

Can a new baby see? What makes a baby smile?

Do babies only fuss, cry, sleep, and have their diapers changed?

Why do babies put everything they can in their mouths?

How do babies learn to talk? Can babies laugh? Do all babies crawl?

The award-winning team who created "Happy Birth Day!" and "Hi New Baby!" launches a brand-new picture-book series, Growing Up Stories -- books that tell enchanting stories and present fascinating facts about the first five years of life.

The first book of the series, "Hello Benny!," tells the story of Benny and celebrates his first year of life -- from his very first sounds to his very first smile, to rolling over, sitting up, and standing, to finding out that he loves bananas and doesn't love peas, to shoving cake in his mouth on his first birthday! "Hello Benny!" captures the remarkable story of what it's like to be a baby and how babies "grow up."

Combining a beautifully told fictional story with a myriad of facts about babies, Harris and Emberley have created a timeless book for children to enjoy and for families to share together.