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Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here! A Word from your Baby-in-Waiting

By Barbara Park and Viviana Garofoli

Hardcover

Published on Jan 22, 2008 | 40 Pages

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Grades Preschool – 2
Ages 3–7

This hilarious picture book about a baby waiting to be born is the perfect gift for moms and moms-to-be—by Barbara Park, the beloved and bestselling author of the Junie B. Jones series!

“Ma! there’s nothing to do here!” complains the precocious protagonist of this rhyming tale set entirely in utero. It’s not exactly a scintillating experience spending nine months in your mother’s womb. You’re just stuck there at the end of that dumb bungee cord (a.k.a. the umbilical cord), with nothing whatsoever to do but slosh around. But, oh, the endless joys you have to look forward to as you listen to the tick-tock of ma’s happy heart clock and await that happy day when you finally come out to play.

Bestseller

ISBN 9780375838521 (Hardcover)
Published on Jan 22, 2008
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers
Pages 40
Dimensions 9-1/2 x 9-3/4
Age Range 3-7 years
Grade Preschool - 2

Barbara Park

Barbara Park was best-known as the creator and author of the New York Times bestselling Junie B. Jones series, the stories of an outrageously funny kindergartener that have kept kids (and their grownups) laughing—and reading—for over two decades. The series was consistently a #1 New York Times bestseller, spending over 180 weeks on the list, and Barbara and her books were profiled in such national outlets as Time, Newsweek, USA Today, the New York Times, and Today. Barbara Park arrived at the writing profession through an indirect route. Before becoming a bestselling and beloved children’s author, she originally intended to teach high school history and political science. She got her secondary education degree but quickly realized that her calling was to be a writer. After several rejections, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers acquired her first manuscript, Operation: Dump the Chump and two others. Don’t Make Me Smile was published first in 1981, followed by Operation: Dump the Chump (1982) and Skinnybones (1982). She went on to write over 50 books, from the picture book Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here!, a love letter to her grandson, to middle grade novels such as Skinnybones, The Kid in the Red Jacket, Mick Harte Was Here, and The Graduation of Jake Moon. Barbara won more than 40 children’s book awards, including several Children’s Choice Awards. Barbara Park was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, on April 21, 1947, and spent most of her adult life in Arizona. There she, with her husband, Richard, raised her two sons and spent time with her two young grandsons. Park died on November 15, 2013 after fighting ovarian cancer heroically for seven and a half years.

Viviana Garofoli

Viviana Garofoli was born in Buenos Aires. She received her degree in fine arts in 1994 from the Prilidiano Pueyrredon School. Her first drawings were published that same year. Her illustrated works for Penguin Random House include Ducks Go Vroom; Hello Ma, It’s Me!; Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here!; My Little Golden Book About Abraham Lincoln; My Little Golden Book About George Washington; and My Little Golden Book About the Statue of Liberty. She lives in Buenos Aires with her husband and two daughters. Learn more about Viviana at vivianagarofoli.com.