Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3^-6. The latest in the Anholts' oeuvre (they've created more than 60 books together) is both a charming book about the seasons and a reassuring story for any child about to become a big brother or sister. Charming colored-pencil-and-watercolor illustrations, which depict an old-fashioned English village world of idyllic landscapes and cheerful interiors, set off the familiar crisis of childhood. When Sophie's parents announce, in spring, that they will have a winter baby, Sophie can't wait. She spends the next months practicing on her doll. But when her brother is born, she finds herself increasingly alone as her parents are caught up in caring for him. Sophie's feelings, depicted realistically, lead to an emotional climax and a resolution that works because it is neither too easy nor too pat; it takes months for Sophie to accept and love the new brother. --Connie Fletcher
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The Anholts (The Big Book of Families) synchronize the cycle of life with the rhythms of the seasons in this heartwarming book about a new sibling. Young Sophie's new brother arrives amid the first snowfall, and the heroine's mood soon turns just as stormy as the winter weather. When a frustrated Sophie wants to know when the baby is "going back again," her mother informs her, "This baby isn't going back. He's here forever. We can't just put him away like your rag doll." But just as winter changes to spring, so do Sophie's feelings alter toward her brother, and at book's end, she pushes his stroller through a blossoming wood, eagerly anticipating "a whole new year." Laurence Anholt's calm narrative voice and Catherine Anholt's airy, delicate watercolor-and-ink illustrations effectively plumb Sophie's darkest emotions. When, at the book's midpoint, Sophie runs out coatless into a snowstorm, yelling, "I DON'T WANT THAT BABY! I DON'T WANT THAT BABY ANYMORE!" it is a moment of almost breathtaking intensity and catharsis. The Anholts convincingly depict Sophie's maturation, to arrive at the happy conclusionÄin which Sophie welcomes her brother as her new playmate. Ages 3-6. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-In spring, Sophie's father tells her that there will be a new baby in the family when winter comes. As she waits ("Sophie had never waited so long for anything"), the seasons pass until one snowy night her brother is born. She becomes frustrated with his inability to play with her, and resents the time her busy parents spend with him. Time continues to pass and she grows used to her sibling as he becomes more responsive. Come spring, she finds a doll she had lost in the snow and gives it to him. "`I've got you to play with now'-It was the start of a whole new year-for Sophie and the Winter Baby." The changing of the seasons gives great supporting structure and expanded definition to the story-two universal cycles intimately connected. There is a nice rhythm and focus as well, from joy to angst and back again. The bright, attractive, highly detailed illustrations help set a tone of love and acceptance. The pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings flow naturally with the tale using effective, expansive double-page spreads as well as small focused vignettes. Sophie's lonely country life appears isolated yet secure. It's no wonder she's ready for a sibling, someone with whom to share the delights of life.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Sophie eagerly waits through spring, summer, and fall for the baby her parents tell her will be born in the winter. Once he arrives, however, Sophie finds that a real baby is quite different from the rag doll she's been practicing with. The story is a bit too long (especially for younger listeners), but Sophie's feelings are convincingly portrayed. The warm, reassuring illustrations highlight the changing seasons. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Anholts team up to present Sophie, who faces a common big-sibling dilemma. In the spring, shes excited to hear about the baby that will come in winter and notifies her doll and other toys that theyll have to move over because someone important is coming soon. She waits through spring and summer, so long that sometimes she forgot all about the Winter Baby. Fall arrives, and then the first snow of winter, which coincides with the birth of her brother. There is life after a siblings birth, but not like before. This baby wants a lot and he wants it all right now. Tired of his attention absorption, Sophie asks her mom, When will he be going back again? Shes shocked to hear the babys a permanent fixture, then frustrated in having to wait to play with him, and then infuriated sufficiently to dash out into the snowstorm and tell the world, I dont want that baby anymore! Parental understanding and the passage of time ameliorate that sentiment; when spring returns, Sophie has moved to affectionate acceptance. Naïf, detailed illustrations underscore perfectly the reality of Sophies voice and emotions in a book that will reassure siblings of newborns. This is no Julius, the Baby of the World (1990), but it does accurately portray the waiting and subsequent adjustments that accompany this familiar event. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
