Chil­dren’s

A Baby of Our Own

Sara Blau; Tova Leff, illus.
  • Review
By – June 21, 2016

A fam­i­ly of three chil­dren being cared for by an old­er woman, most like­ly their grand­moth­er, is adorn­ing their home in prepa­ra­tion for the arrival of their newest fam­i­ly mem­ber, a baby girl. But how should the for­mer­ly youngest child, a boy of three, feel? While this is a joy­ful occa­sion, can it not also be threat­en­ing to the younger child? It can and often is, but not when that child is includ­ed in draw­ing the wel­com­ing signs that he is plac­ing on the home’s walls, just as his old­er sib­lings are doing. Instead of being fear­ful of being replaced, he has made the jump to being an old­er sib­ling in the fam­i­ly who will be asked to help take care of the new­com­er, an adorable pink-clad baby girl (but who seems to be asleep almost all the time). The mes­sage is clear and excit­ing. It even explains those fero­cious cry­ing sounds made by such a tiny baby. The book is beau­ti­ful­ly illus­trat­ed with col­ors of teal, pink, laven­der, and blue, and it is peo­pled by cheer­ful char­ac­ters. This is a won­der­ful book for fam­i­lies to share with young chil­dren, espe­cial­ly if they are expect­ing an addi­tion to the family.

Mar­cia W. Pos­ner, Ph.D., of the Holo­caust Memo­r­i­al and Tol­er­ance Cen­ter of Nas­sau Coun­ty, is the library and pro­gram direc­tor. An author and play­wright her­self, she loves review­ing for JBW and read­ing all the oth­er reviews and arti­cles in this mar­velous periodical.

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