The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall

The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall

Rating: 5 stars

It's an age-old question most parents dread: Where do babies come from?

Sophie Blackall takes a stab at answering this question, taking the load off our parental shoulders for a bit. This beautiful book is on many (most?) of the year-end "best book" lists, and there's a reason why: it's a sweet story with an important message, told with sweet words and incredible illustrations.

Here's the story (and a few illustrations to give you an idea of how great they are):

At breakfast, a little boy's parents break the news to him: there's a baby on the way! He's going to be a big brother. As he quietly eats his oatmeal while the hubbub of the morning swirls around him, he only has one thought: Where are we going to get the baby?

Teenage neighbor Olive answers his question as they walk to school: "You plant a seed, and it grows into a Baby Tree."

Hmm. He's not sure about that. He still wonders, so he takes his question to school.

Mrs. McClure the art teacher replies: "From the hospital."

Okay...he can picture a hospital, because his Grandpa had stuff removed (gall stones) there. But he's still unsure, so...

He asks Grandpa, who tells him: "A stork brings your baby in the night and leaves it in a bundle on your doorstep."

What??!!?

Everyone was right. Except for Grandpa.

Maybe the mailman can clear things up: "Babies come from eggs."

At the end of this long, confusing day, the boy asks his mom and dad where babies come from. The simple, succinct answer includes: "They begin with a seed from their dad...which gets planted in an egg inside their mom...the baby grows in there for nine months...until it runs out of room...and it's ready to be born."

So everyone was a little bit right. Except for Grandpa and that stork thing.

There's more information in the back about where babies come from, with recommendations on how to answer the question based on the age of your child. The information also includes twins and adoption and c-sections in very brief but still-honest ways.

This is a great book for many reasons: it's wonderful to look at, great to read aloud, and a fantastic teaching tool. What more can you expect from a book? (Please don't tell her, but we are giving this to Lorelei's teacher--she has a toddler at home and is expecting her second baby in January!)