Literary Monday: I'm a Big Sister

Joanna Cole's book, I'm a Big Sister, is yet another book that takes turns as one of Isabelle's favorites.  It was given to us after Andrew was born, along with a small, pink rubber bracelet that says "Big Sister."  Isabelle loves the bracelet so much that she will even sleep with it sometimes.  Both the book and bracelet were very clever gifts for Isabelle, and I think it would make an excellent gift for other families when their family increases in size.

When I was pregnant, my dear friend, Leslie, recommended that if we read any books to Isabelle about a new baby, that we not pick a book that presented the baby as a challenge that she would have to get used to.  Instead, it's better to have a completely fun and positive attitude about a new baby because toddlers will pick up on our attitudes.  If we expect our little ones to have trouble adjusting, they probably will.  I'm a Big Sister has a great outlook on a growing family.   

Joanna Cole's book speaks to preschoolers on their level about the joys of having a new baby at home, through the eyes of a little girl.  She talks about some of the things that babies enjoy as well as some of their negatives, such as the crying.  She writes "Sometimes the baby cries.  Daddy says 'Babies cry to tell us something.  Let's see what's the matter.'"  This perspective is great, because young kids can get pretty annoyed at a crying baby, but if they understand the why, it's much easier to deal with. 

Isabelle used to get pretty upset when Andrew would cry, and she would squeal "Baby crying, baby crying!" until he stopped.  Now, when Andrew gets fussy, I tell her that we need to try to make Andrew happy, so instead, she will tell me "Mommy, Andrew happy! Andrew happy!"  Crying really bothers kids, so I'm glad Joanna Cole addresses the baby's need to communicate. 

The author wisely mentions that big sister can only pick up the baby if she asks first.  That's so great, because little ones will try to pick up baby brother or sister.  Isabelle has nearly tried a number of times, and while there's no way her 25 pound frame can pick up his 16 pounds, I don't want to see what happens if she starts to pick up part of him and then drops him! 

The book discusses all the the things that babies can't do yet, and highlights the great things that the big sister can do.  It also talks about the big sister being a baby once too.  The reader clearly gets the idea that while babies are special, big kids are special too.  In fact, the little girl is now even more special than she used to be because she's a big sister now. 

I love the positive feel of this book as well as the sweet illustrations.  I also enjoy that Daddy is involved in loving on both kids and caring for them.  Many books want to be careful to appeal to all types of families, so they leave Daddy out, just in case mom is single.  But this book has both parents, and the illustrations show each parent caring for the children as well as being affectionate towards each other. 

The only annoyance in this book is that the baby takes bottles, and I inwardly cringe a bit at that part of the story.  When Damian reads it, he often points out to Isabelle that our little baby does not take bottles.  I'm sure you can tell by many of my posts that we're very pro-breastfeeding, so it's important to us that our children view nursing as the normal and proper way to feed a baby.  But I have to acknowledge that the majority of babies do take a bottle at some point, even if it's a bottle of mom's milk, so this is an area that I think it's fine to compromise on, especially when it's in a children's book.  And since Isabelle loves nursing her baby dolls, I don't think I need to worry too much about that area anyway! 

Is your little one about to be a big brother?  Not to worry.  Joanna Cole also has I'm a Big Brother, as well as a couple of potty books.  And of course, she's really famous as the author of the Magic School Bus books!