#BookReview - Busy, Busy!

Busy, Busy!

By: Eileen Spinelli
Illustrated by: Elina Ellis
Publisher: Worthy Kids/Ideals
Publication: April 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8249-1971-9
Reviewed by: Jennifer Tilley-Voegtle
Review Date: May 2016

Busy, Busy! is a darling board book written by Eileen Spinelli. This sweet little book is about animals who are very busy doing their jobs in their natural environments. Written in rhyme, each page is illustrated with the “occupation” of each busy character. But the animals are not the only ones that are very busy, there is a mommy that is very busy as well.

“Mommy’s busy,
Always busy,
She has lots of work to do”


Mommy might be extremely busy doing her work but she isn’t too busy to spend time with her child. The message that mommy’s not too busy for her child is what makes this book so special. Every animal in the story is busy doing their own specific job. Each job is designated to the type of animal and how it lives or plays in its environment. While each character is busy doing their special job the mom is doing work but also cuddling her child, which is, of course, as important as all of the other jobs being done.

“Frog is very busy leaping,
Beaver has no time to play.
Mama bird is busy teaching
Little bird to fly away”


Lots of questions will be provoked by each page in the story. Busy, Busy! was written for the toddler crowd and the nature of the story is educational with an emotional ending. Children will learn not only the names of animals but also be able to identify them and relate them to objects or habits each animal in the book is associated with. It also reinforces that even though mommy may be very busy all the time part of her job is taking time to show her child attention.

Quill says: A fun book for the inquisitive, cuddly, toddler in your life.