The Barefooted, Bad-Tempered, Baby Brigade

About Deborah Diesen

Deborah Diesen grew up in Midland, Michigan, and earned a BA from Michigan State University in 1989.  She worked as a bookseller at an independent bookstore for many years before returning to school to become a librarian.  She earned her Masters of Information and Library Studies degree from the University of Michigan in 1996.  She's been writing all of her life, wrote her first children’s stories about ten years ago.  Her debut children’s book, The Pout Pout Fish, was published in 2008; it was on the New York Times Book Review Picture Book Best Seller list for two weeks and was named by Time Magazine as one of the Top Ten Children’s Books of 2008.  Deborah is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators; the American Library Association; the Michigan Library Association; the Michigan Reading Association; and PEN.  She lives in Grand Ledge, Michigan with her husband and two sons.

Praise

Review, School Library Journal:
"This story may resonate more with beleaguered parents who struggle to get their sometimes uncooperative little ones fed, bathed, and dressed, but the lap set will thoroughly enjoy saying the oft-repeated refrain, “WE’RE A BAREFOOTED BAD-TEMPERED BABY BRIGADE!” Great fun."

Review, Publishers Weekly:
"Dockray (The Tushy Book) gleefully and vividly reimagines babies' chunky, blunt physicality as the manifestation of civil disobedience—after closing this book, it will be difficult to look at anyone under 36 months and not see a budding Emma Goldman or Eugene V. Debs."

Review, Booklist:
"The scenarios of the rebels in action are as much fun as the climax, when they get the snuggle they want. A great early read-aloud, with a thumping, rhythmic text that kids will want to hear many times over."