Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 2-4. Numerous books are available to prepare soon-to-be siblings for the changes that come with the arrival of a new baby in the house. Butler's goes one better by candidly and thoughtfully responding to the question many such books ignore, How did that baby get there? Joyous, splashy watercolors establish the warmth of a close-knit family and introduce narrator Elizabeth, about five, a bundle of energy. Her delight and curiosity spill across the pages as she explains that her mother has a baby growing inside her and describes what she learns about the pregnancy and her developing sib. In between, Mom talks to her about how our baby got inside, allowing Elizabeth to relay what she learns about everything from fertilization (correct terms are usually used) to the liquid that shoots out of a man's penis. The art is somewhat more demure than the text (lovemaking is hidden under blankets), but labeled cutaways show adults' sexual organs and the developing fetus, Mom huffing and puffing during labor, and newborn Michael smiling at the world in all his naked glory. The disconnection between the picture-book format and the informational content may be problematic for some, and certainly an adult must be around to answer the inevitable questions this book will provoke, such as, Is breaking water like having to pee? In the end, though, the affectionate family dynamics and Elizabeth's ingenuous, enthusiastic narration beautifully sustain the child-centric view. For slightly older children, suggest Robie Harris' It's So Amazing (1999). --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-In a conversational tone, Elizabeth describes the month-by-month development of the baby as well as the changes in Mom's body. With a child as narrator, the text naturally includes topics of interest to readers, from the growing size of the fetus to the different ways Elizabeth interacts with him, from Doppler to ultrasound to simply feeling his hard bump of a head through her mother's tummy. Through very direct language and clear illustrations, children will learn about a man's testicles where sperm are made and the fallopian tube where an egg is fertilized. Rather than ending at this clinical description, Mom answers Elizabeth's big question, "how do Dad's sperm and your egg get together?" As part of her measured response, she explains, "The man puts his penis between the woman's legs and inside her vagina. After a while, a white liquid shoots out of the man's penis and into the woman's vagina. The liquid is full of millions of sperm." So, too, details are not spared when the birth is described. The playful and colorful illustrations add exuberance to the text, combining full-page paintings, cartoon panels, word balloons, and free-floating images, many of which are of the developing baby. The joy and love felt by all of the family members is palpable. This volume is an excellent choice for those readers who are ready to ask and be told some of life's basic facts.-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
Inviting cartoons illustrate a young girl's month-by-month account of her mother's pregnancy, including a frank answer to ""How do Dad's sperm and your egg get together?"" Accessible vivid descriptions, such as when the girl compares the embryo's size to her ""bottom front tooth,"" and watercolor images of the baby in utero give a clear picture of gestation and birth. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
With unwavering exuberance, young Elizabeth takes readers month-by-month through her mom's pregnancy, tracking her prospective sibling's size from September's "only as big as my bottom front tooth," through February's "as big as my stuffed rabbit," and on to May's delivery. Unusually for treatments of this topic, Elizabeth is very specific--about not only the baby's physical development and Mom's anatomy, but also about just how Dad's sperm came to meet Mom's egg. Thompson follows suit in cartoon-style watercolors, placing Mom and Dad under covers but interspersing views of the smiling family with lots of labeled inside views and enlargements. Confusingly, Elizabeth refers to the fetus as "he" throughout, even while relating how her parents are opting to wait to find out the baby's sex--but for children seeking hard facts on the whole business, this makes a good alternative to the likes of Kes Gray's Baby On Board! (2004), illustrated by Sarah Nayler, or Laurel Molk's lyrical but oblique When You Were Just a Heartbeat (2004). (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
