New Maine-Themed Baby Board Book Hits Shelves This Week

There's a new board book for babies that has Maine written all over it...literally.

As the publisher, Arcadia Publishing describes it, "Local Baby: Maine" is "bursting with delightful colors and bright illustrations."

I took the opportunity to read the book to my kids and found it very sweet and familiar.

You'll come across some famous local landmarks mentioned,

as well as local cuisine...

local wildlife...and local activities.

They weren't kidding when they called it "hyper-local."

According to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Arcadia Publishing, launched its first children's imprint back in 2020. The company specializes in "hyper-local" titles.

"Arcadia built its brand publishing regional nonfiction titles for adults, written by authors, teachers, and historians with local expertise. Under the guidance of Publishing Director Nancy Ellwood, the children’s imprint will follow this mission by printing mostly true stories about regional history."

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Ellingwood says hyper-local content for the youngest of minds helps babies create beneficial developmental connections to the world around them.

"Local interest is wonderful at this age. Babies start pointing at the people, places, and objects they recognize when they're about 9 or 10 months old. So how great is it that a little one who points at a local landmark outside then encounters that landmark in a book at home? That connection--to the things and places they know and love--will bring them back to books again and again, and help foster their curiosity."

Ellwood says Local baby is the kind of a hybrid concept book.

"At its core, it's a first-words book. But we choose our words not because they're the first words a baby will say, but because they are words (associated with places and things that connect that little mind and heart to a special place.)

Just released on April 4th, Local Baby: Maine is now available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, Walmart and directly through the publisher, Arcadia Publishing.