The New Baby (Little Critter)

My son is 16 months old and he loves this book! It has been so helpful in trying to prepare him for becoming a big brother. Even though he is young, we are able to tell him about what babies can and cannot do so he will be ready when his brother arrives. I think out of all the books we bought, we will be able to reinforce more about babies with this book than any of the others. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs to prepare a child for a new siblings arrival!

This is such a cute book...I found it when looking for some book to get for my son to help him get ready for the arrival of his little sister...what I really liked was how it explained how the baby wouldn't be able to really do anything right away...that was very helpful because of course my son who is 2 thought that his sister would be able to play with him and everything right away...but after reading his books he realized she was going to be a little baby and wouldn't be able to do everything he wanted...he is now very excited for his sister to get here and he loves reading it...he now likes to read it to us...definatly a perfect book for either the Big Brother or the Bid Sister.

I bought this book and two others in an attempt to prepare my son for the birth of his sister. He was 22 months when she was born. The other books ordered were too sophisticated for him. This book was a hit - he requested it every night before and after she was born. I liked that it used short simple language to explain what it would be like with the baby around and gave ideas to the older sibling for ways to play with the new baby. The "What to Expect" book and Calliou's book were both not as good.

When I was pregnant with my second child, I looked long and hard for good books to introduce to our 2 yr. old son the idea of a new baby arriving. I was surprised that, of all the ones I saw, this is far and away the best -- at least for the 2-4 yr. old crowd. This book helps them understand what to expect from a baby (for instance, not an instant playmate, and lots of crying) and what they can do with a baby (snuggle, give her a finger to grab, take her for a walk in the stroller). For an excellent book on reassuring your child that he or she won't be losing out on Mommy's love, try "On Mother's Lap," by Ann Herbert Scott (wonderful illustrations, too). My son still enjoys these books, a year-and-a-half later.

Do you have a new addition to the family coming, or already here? For young children this might be just the thing to help them know they are not alone in joining the ranks of big brother or big sister. My young daughter still reads this book several times a week, and her baby brother is now a year old! This book does not give any hints of sibling rivalry or jealousy, which I appreciated very much. It only introduces little critters new baby and begins answering the question, what can you do with a new baby?