Waiting for Lumpy is an honest, fun, and openly Jewish picture book about the jealousy and fears that an as yet unborn baby stirs up in her siblings. The story line features prayers, life-cycle events, and holiday celebrations, all of which fall in the nine-month window leading up to the baby’s birth. Ella, the youngest, feels the most threatened by her new sister’s arrival. Her status will change; she worries her parents’ love for her will wane. Ella sulks and complains, realizing her mother’s lap will have no more room for her.
The parents show Ella photos of their own two families. They encourage her to be a good big sister, a role that starts to appeal to her. When it comes time for Passover, the family adds a fifth question to the seder: What to name the baby? Ella and her older brother, Robby, dream up silly, sarcastic names for the newcomer. Eventually, Ella picks the name of their immigrant great-aunt, who became a physician. At the baby-naming ceremony, the newborn gets a beautiful Hebrew name. Ella sets off on her journey to being the best big sister ever. The illustrations are adorable and sweet, capturing a loving family at home, a mom’s growing stomach, and the hospital and synagogue.
Ellen G. Cole, a retired librarian of the Levine Library of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, is a past judge of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards and a past chairperson of that committee. She is a co-author of the AJL guide, Excellence in Jewish Children’s Literature. Ellen is the recipient of two major awards for contribution to Judaic Librarianship, the Fanny Goldstein Merit Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Dorothy Schroeder Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California. She is on the board of AJLSC.
