Growing Up Is Hard to Do, Part 1 by Susan Marie Chapman is a warm children’s book about Baby, a young manatee approaching her second birthday and facing a change she doesn’t feel ready for. Because manatee calves stay with their mothers for about two years, Baby knows she’ll soon have to become more independent. That worry gives the story an emotional center that young readers can understand, even if they know nothing about manatees. Baby also struggles with making friends and feeling different from the fish around her, which leads to a gentle conversation with her mother about finding people who appreciate you as you are.

One of the book’s strongest choices is the way it mixes Baby’s personal concerns with information about real manatees. Readers learn that manatees are mammals, breathe air with lungs, eat plants, have poor eyesight, and use sensitive hairs to help them navigate. Those facts don’t feel completely separate from the story because Baby is learning about herself at the same time. Her mother’s message that being different is part of what makes her special fits naturally with Baby discovering what makes a manatee a manatee. There’s a nice balance here between reassurance, animal science, and the everyday emotions of growing up.

Natalia Loseva’s illustrations give the picture book a handmade and playful feel. The underwater pages rely heavily on deep blues, bright green seagrass, and simple shapes, while Baby and her mother are drawn with soft gray bodies and expressive faces. The images often do more than decorate the text. A cutaway illustration comparing a manatee’s lungs with a fish’s gills makes the science especially easy to grasp, and other pages use Baby’s facial expressions and body language to show sadness, curiosity, comfort, and excitement. The later scenes around the marina also introduce Grumpy the Iguana, Green Parrot, Mr. Squirrel, and Little Mouse visually before Baby has fully met them, helping the story shift from a quiet mother-and-child relationship toward a larger cast of characters.

As Part 1, the book is deliberately setting up a larger adventure. Baby swims closer to the docks after hearing laughter, Little Mouse spots her in the water and mistakes her for a giant fish or possibly a whale, and the other friends hurry over to investigate. The final “To Be Continued…” makes the ending feel like the start of Baby’s next big step. It’s an inviting setup for a series because Baby’s emotional journey, her natural-world setting, and the promise of new friendships all point in the same direction. For young readers who enjoy animals, friendship stories, and learning a few facts along the way, this is an appealing introduction to Baby and the world she’s beginning to explore.

Pages: 48 | ISBN: 1736805657