Children's Book Review: Oscar's Half Birthday by Bob Graham

Sophia’s preschool has library day every Wednesday and this week she brought home Oscar’s Half Birthday for the third time this year.

It is a clear favorite of hers, and I have loved it from the first time we read it together. As with many wonderful children’s books, the beauty and charm in this story is not a riveting plot line or action packed sequence of events.

It is a simply and beautifully illustrated tale of a young urban family’s trip to the park to celebrate the “half birthday” of six month old Oscar. I was immediately drawn to the characters. Oscar’s mom and dad look to be in their early twenties and they both wear braids in their hair. The family is multiracial and probably shop at Old Navy or Urban Outfitters.

Mom wears Birkenstocks and dad wears high top Converse sneakers. Dad is also in charge of making the tuna sandwiches for their picnic. In the family’s small apartment, you will notice an iPhone charging on the table and the considerable clutter that goes along with any family of four in a small space. Older sister Millie has selected “coat-hanger fairy wings on her back and a dinosaur puppet on her hand” for Oscar’s celebration in the park, and at one point when she is accidentally too rough with little Oscar, dad asks Millie for “a little more fairy and not so much dinosaur.”

As the family makes their way to the park (or the “half country” as they call it) the beauty is once again in the details. We hear the “tickety-clack” of a commuter train, the “plip, plip” of water dripping off a bridge into the water, the wind of the trees, and the drone of distant traffic.

Once at the park, Oscar’s little family celebration attracts the attention of other folks at the park and everyone seems to join in singing to the half-birthday boy.

It’s a lovely celebration of community. My favorite part of the book comes at the very end when the family has returned home, bath time is finished, and mom and dad have moved the living room furniture out of the way to dance. The love of the young parents for each other and their children is evident in every word and illustration; I would like to live next door to this family.

I’m not sure if Sophia enjoys the story for the same reasons I do. She spends a lot of time studying the pictures and adores the idea of any kind of birthday celebration with cake and singing. Of course this also feeds her burning desire for a cute younger sibling like Oscar.

The parents in the book remind me a little of my own upbringing in the 70’s. My dad packed our lunches and still wears a ponytail. Discussion of the nightly news and politics was viewed as more important than whether the dishes were done and, much to my chagrin, they still like to dance with each other any chance they get. I highly recommend this book for children ages four to eight.

It would make a wonderful gift for a half birthday or any day!