1) I'm a Big Brother by Joanna Cole
This was one of my favorite of the big sibling books that was picked out. It talks about how the older sibling can help with the new baby. The words in this were written simply enough that my son was a focused listener, but they also meant something to him. This book is in the categories of: family and independence/growing-up.
2) I'm a New Big Brother by Nora Gaydos
This was also a very nice approach to becoming an older sibling. This one actually focused on the idea that big brother also gets some special alone time with Mommy and Daddy, but that the family has now grown bigger and includes one other person. This book was a great reminder to me that I will very shortly have two children who will equally need their own time with Mommy and Daddy, as well as time spent together and helping as a whole family. This book is also in the categories: Family and Independence/Growing-Up.
3) There's Going to Be a Baby by John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury
Unfortunately, this was my least favorite of the new sibling books that had been checked out. This is a mix of a wordless picture book and a regular children's book with words. The illustrations in this book seemed a bit odd to me. I did like that this book takes on the idea of a conversation between mother and child, but it seemed a little bit negative at times. Also, the end of this book doesn't actually show the new baby has arrived, but it does have the child's grandfather bringing him in to see the new baby. Definitely not my favorite and probably not one we will read again, although it did focus on becoming a new sibling. This books is also in the categories: Family and Independence/Growing-Up.
4) Bear's New Friend by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
This book is part of the Bear Snores On series. This book is a sweet way of introducing children to the idea of accepting new friends, despite the fact that their characteristics might include being really shy. This book brings in all of Bear's animal friends and they all learn to welcome the new friend withe ease. This book is in the categories of: Animal Books and Friendship.
5) Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastien Braun
At first glance at this book, I thought it was very odd but the saying is definitely true to not judge a book by its cover. It was very cute and focused on a cat that gets all of his friends together to line up chairs in train formation. Apparently, my son was lining up the small chairs at the library when they went together and the librarian found this book for him and said it was perfect. It is in fact, quite fitting for my son who loves making trains out of chairs, blocks, and anything else he can manage to make look like a train. The different friends are animals and their names are the sound that they make. Each friend has a different color chair and they each play a special part in the train. There is one page where Meeow has something in his backpack which is a bell for the sound effects on the train, but I love the fact that my son says it is a corndog. (To be fair, the handle does sort of look like a corndog when that is the only part you can see.) This book is in the following categories: Animal Books, Colors, Sound Exploration, and Friendship.
There are more books from this session to the library, but I will catch up on those in a couple of days. Maybe now that it is summer time again and I am not working, maybe I will be able to keep up on this better.... we will see how becoming a family of four affects me, too!
