How to be a Baby by Me the Big Sister by Sally Llyod Jones Illustrated by Sue Heap

This walkthrough on all things how to be a baby is a cute book comparing the skills allowed by older siblings to babies. It is written the way a school child would talk and is filled with humorous lists and reasons why it isn't always so great to be a baby. In the end, however, the big sister realizes all of the pros to being a baby and she realizes that her little baby sibling will not always have baby limitations.

Also by this author is 'How to be a Bride' which is on par with this book.

Schwartz & Wade, 2007.

Shoe Baby by Joyce Dunbar Illustrated by Polly Dunbar

A little baby goes on a magical shoe adventure until he is reunited with his Giant parents. It is a wonderfully illustrated tale and the pictures are interested and bright and bold. We read this book over and over and over.

Candlewick, 2005.

Be a Baby by Sarah Withrow Illustrated by Manuel Monroy

In short and simple rhymes everything this baby is to it's parents is explored. It's a book form of a poem to say to a baby. The illustrations are adorable.

Groundwood Books, 2007.

The Fathers Are Coming Home by Margaret Wise Brown Illustrated by Stephen Savage

In simple text this book explains that at nighttime all of the fathers are coming home to their children and it explores a variety of animals all coming home to their children. The ladybug father goes home to his ladybug children. The lion father only sees his cubs on holidays and summer vacations so he goes home to watch the sunset. And a little boy's father comes home from being a sailor to his little boy that night. This was a nice book about fathers and how they go home to their children, but some of the information I questioned a bit. Where were these fathers all throughout the day? The dalmatian dog  might be a firefighting dog or something, so in that case it is understandable. But what are ladybugs and spiders and fish and pigs and snails doing all day that they are away from their children? It was an enjoyable book to read, but being the adult reader, it left me a bit puzzled.

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010.

Welcome to Your World, Baby by Brooke Shields Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld

This story is about a little girl who is imagining how great her new baby sister's world will be when her sister gets older. She explains all of the fun things that they will do as sisters like having tea parties and playing dress up and snuggling on mom's lap. The illustrations are adorable and this is an entertaining read. My little girl really enjoyed this book as well.

Harper Collins, 2008.

Bye-bye, Crib by Alison McGhee Illustrated by Ross MacDonald

Baby and Baby Kitty are getting ready to make the transition from bed to crib in this old-timey illustrated picture book. The little baby boy in the book has some initial fears about his bed being a big monster bed, but in the end him and baby kitty are able to sleep tight!

Simon & Schuster, 2008.

The Big Baby by Anthony Browne

The narrator's father in this story is really very self-absorbed and one day, because of a tonic he takes, his father really turns into a big baby! The story provides a humorous view at the ways of men and how literally, sometimes, they are just big babies.

Knopf, 1993.

Barfburger Baby, I Was Here First by Paula Danziger Illustrated by G. Brian Karas

I love all of the nicknames this little boy comes up with for his new baby brother. He definitely has a lot of feelings about having a new sibling and in this book those feelings are explored and eventually overcome through this creative and humorous book.

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2004.

Babies Don't Eat Pizza by Dianne Danzig Illustrated by Debbie Tilley

This is a simple yet comprehensive book for 'big kids' about baby brothers and sisters. It doesn't get too informative as to where babies come from but rather explores babies, how big kids used to be babies, what babies do, how they look and everything else a cihld would need to know about babies. It's wonderfully illustrated and very informative with an infusion of a little bit of humor where needed.

Dutton Children's Books, 2009.

The Biggest Bed in the World by Lindsay Camp Illustrated by Jonathan Langley

I think anyone who has shared a bed at some point or another with their child/ren can appreciate the father's feelings in this book. As his family expands there is less and less room in the bed and therefore, less and less opportunity for a good night's sleep. I like how the Mom always seems pretty content to have her gaggle of children undercovers with her, but the Dad is sick and tired. So he decides to build the biggest bed he can after the upgraded bigger beds are no longer big enough. However, the biggest bed in the world was a bit too much for their house to handle and one day the bed kind of crashed/flew out of the house and ended up in the ocean. After that Dad banned everyone into their own bed but then realized he and mom were kind of lonely all alone.

I really really really like this book for a number of reasons. Firstly, it really connects to me because I am also part of a family-bed family and as tough as it can be (that's a whole different blog...) there is no where else my babies would be as comfortable. I do think that the story is a little unrealistic (or maybe it's just an idea that I haven't thought of yet) because instead of having multiple blankets for everyone, there is just one big blanket that is comprised of a bunch of smaller blankets sewn together. One blanket, even a big blanket, isn't enough for just the adults in my bed so I thought it was a novel idea.

I also really really really liked how each kid in the family had a B name. Ben, Billy, Beth, Bart, Brittany, Bella and Boris.

Harper Collins Publishers, 1999.

This is the Day adapted by Phillis Gershator Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

At first this story was kind of disturbing as I'm sure no one likes to read about babies being given away, but the illustrations are adorable. The book set me up for some deep thinking and I guess the whole story is really lyrics from a song. I didn't look up the song because I don't know, it is bordering on 'Should I really Listen to this' and 'this is a song about giving away babies.' and I love babies. But it is definitely a really cute book and it is catchy and rhymy and all about babies.

Houghton Mifflin, 2007.

The World is Full of Babies! by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom

All sorts of animal babies are explored and compared to human babies, from fetal development to the various ways babies act and interact with their parents. The text is big and bold and perfect for younger readers while the illustrations are concise and depict animals realistically. This book does a great job in connecting with the reader on some of the various activities that are universal to all babies and brief explanation of various animal behaviors accompany the illustrations. This is a wonderful book to read to explore animal development or if children are interested in babies in general (not just human ones).

Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1996.

A Teeny Tiny Baby by Amy Schwartz

This teeny tiny baby describes his life in a surprisingly realistic way that any child can identify with. The illustrations are interesting and complex. I love how the book explains the various options that are given to a teeny tiny baby, such as where the baby sleeps (on the quilt, in the swing, on the sofa, in the car, on the rug, on the baby's right side, on the baby's left side, on the baby's belly, on the baby's back, NOT in the cradle and with mom and dad). Even parents will enjoy reading this book as it is surprisingly humorous and realistic when it comes to doing things with a brand new teeny-tiny baby.

Orchard Books, 1994.

The Merbaby by Teresa Bateman Illustrated by Patience Brewster

When a fisherman and his brother make a shocking discovery in their fishing nets after seeing a beautiful harpy mermaid on the rocks, Tarron decides to return the found merbaby to the mermaid and instead of becoming rich on the exploitation of this beautiful merchild is greeted with welcome by the merfolk community for the return of their beloved merchild.

The illustrations in this book are absolutely gorgeous to look at. The story is a bit more complex for younger readers but anyone would appreciate the pictures of the beautiful mermaids and the adorable merbaby.

Holiday House, 2001.

Princess Baby, Night-Night by Karen Katz

Parents and children alike will quickly identify with Princess Baby's bedtime routine. From washing her face to putting on her pajamas and reading a bedtime story, Princess Baby seems to know the ropes (and instead of getting herself ready for bedtime spends an extensive amount of time preparing her baby animals). The bright and bold illustrations are signature of Karen Katz in this adorable bedtime story. It is easy to read and is perfect for any younger child.

Schwartz and Wade Books, 2009.

A Ride on Mother's Back by Emery and Durga Bernhard

Babies, babies and more babies all being carried around by the people who care for them. This book explores babywearing as a natural phenomena in various cultures all around the world. The illustrations are bright and gorgeous with lots of detail and although it is a bit wordy for younger children, the different cultural examples of parenting are interesting for children and parents alike.

Gulliver Books, 1996.

Super Babies on the Move by Salina Yoon

This book is like two books mashed into one, except they are opposite sides of the book and one is upside down (that is until you turn the book over!) The book includes Max's Bath Time and Mia's Nap Time and is a really cute little book about babies who wander off and go exploring. There are sequential pictures within some of the pages to help illustrate the events. The pictures are bright and bold and colorful and it's a fun little book to read.

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009.

Benny and Beautiful Baby Delilah by Jean Van Leeuwen Illustrated by LeUyen Pham

When Benny's parents bring home his new baby sister, he has a lot of different feelings, most importantly, he does not like her. That is, until he decides he does.

It's a lovely story for any child who is going to be a big sibling and children can easily relate to the feelings Benny displays.

The pictures a colorful and very contrasty, and very visually appealing.

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006.

Lazy Little Loafers by Susan Orlean

The book starts out with the question, "Why don't babies work?" and the rest of the story follows the investigation of the main character, a savvy New York little girl, who figures out how it is babies are able to pull off such a life of leisure.

It's a great book with a unique perspective on babies with a good bit of humor too.

Illustrated by G. Brian Karas.
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2008.

Ten Tiny Babies by Karen Katz

Ten Tiny Babies is one of those books that covers so much educational ground in the storyline of babies that keep appearing one by one until it is time to go to bed. On top of all of that, it is also absolutely fun to read, fun to act out, and really cute to look at. Even better, now my little is reading it and talking about it even though we only read it once. She's singing about it. Another thing that I noticed was that all of the babies are of different color variations, so this is one of those diversity-friendly books as well. It's so cute though and worth it to read it. All of Karen Katz's books are quite entertaining and cute and child-friendly.


Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2008.