Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm a Big Sister and I'm a Big Brother by Joanna Cole

I'm a Big Sister and I'm a Big Brother by Joanna Cole, both illustrated by Maxie Chambliss

Rating: 5 perfectly in-between stars

When my stepsister first asked what big sister books I had or would recommend to her, this is the only one I had on our shelf.  It was the only one I bought for Lorelei when Ben was born (she was only 18 months, so I'm pretty sure that I didn't buy it for her ahead of time, as she was mostly unaware of the reason I was getting so large).  It is really not a story book, but it's more than a book about babies and about a baby sibling.  It's the perfect in-between.

I don't think I can review any more bad sibling/new baby books right now.  I've got to take a break!  I've got Where Did That Baby Come From? and A Baby Sister for Frances and the VERY odd Perfect Friend right next to me, but they are all in the category of not really good...  (They all assume that the older sibling dislikes/hates/resents the younger sibling; in the case of Perfect Friend, the book is about a talking, thinking, feeling dog resenting a new baby in the family.  He's happy only when he realizes that the new baby is the only one in the family who won't ignore him any more).  There are too many books that we've found in the past few weeks.  Maybe I'll get back to more not-so-great ones when I'm out of great books...  That could take awhile!

So I'll end this bout of sibling books with this really good one.  It's a great starter book at the very least because it provides a 2- or 3-year old big sister or big brother with the basics: What a baby can and cannot do, what a baby can and cannot eat and other little lessons in a cute, accessible way.  It points out how a big sibling needs to ask permission from a parent before s/he can hold the baby, which is different from almost all the other books that show a toddler lugging around a 6-month old in a most frightening way.  There is also a note from the author about things you can do to help adjust your older child to the new addition.  You've most likely read the same things from your Google search and heard the same things from your pediatrician, but it'll probably comfort you to know you're already doing all the things you can do to make the adjustment a smooth one.

This is a must-buy--don't even bother checking it out at the library because you probably will read it again and again and again and again to your older child.  Maybe it'll be one of the first books your younger one will hear, too!

It worked for us, and Lorelei and Ben love each other, most of the time!

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