It's a Baby, Andy Russell [Hardcover]

David A. Adler (Author), Leanne Franson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Andy Russell

While Andy Russell's parents are at the hospital with his newborn baby brother, Andy is having big problems at home. His strange aunt Janet has come to babysit, and she's on a mission to rid the house of germs in preparation for the baby. Andy is convinced his aunt wants him to clean all of his "germy" pets . . . right out of the house!

Award-winning author David A. Adler's sixth book in the Andy Russell series is filled with hilarious misunderstandings, warm reunions, and a sweet new addition to the Russell family.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4–When Andy and his sister return home from school one day, a message on their answering machine informs them that their mother is in the hospital giving birth. Although this is wonderful news to the Russell children, they are not happy that their cleaning-crazy, always-complaining aunt will be taking care of them in their parents' absence. When Andy overhears Aunt Janet, a nurse, say that the house must be as clean as the hospital, he fears for the lives of his germ-carrying pets. Andy devises a plan to keep them safe, but during the excitement of the baby's birth and the reunion between their friend Tamika and her mother, who had been in a rehabilitation center due to a car accident, both Andy and Aunt Janet learn lessons in how to communicate better with one another. This simple and humorous chapter book provides a subtle and touching theme about family interaction and friendship. Enlivened with full-page cartoon illustrations, it's a friendly and funny book for reluctant and transitional readers.–Jennifer Cogan, formerly at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. When Andy, his sister, Rachel, and friend Tamika arrive home from school to find their house in disarray, they wonder if Mrs. Russell has gone into labor. The messages on the answering machine confirm their deduction--and also announce that Aunt Janet is on her way to stay with them. Andy dreads life with Aunt Janet, whom he calls "a worrier, a complainer, and . . . bossy." After she arrives, he takes her rather inoffensive remarks about animals and germs to mean that he must get rid of his gerbils and snake. Thinking fast, he takes defensive action. Though Andy's reactions to Aunt Janet seem overblown, his responses in other situations are right on target and sometimes comical. The sixth book in the series that began with The Many Troubles of Andy Russell (1998), this short, illustrated chapter book marks transitions as Andy's family grows and Tamika returns home after living with the Russells. Of special interest to fans of the series. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152167420
• ISBN-13: 978-0152167424
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,217,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars poor andy, July 3, 2006

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Melissa Sack (georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: It's a Baby, Andy Russell (Hardcover)

Poor Andy his parents are at the hospital having his baby brother and he's stuck at home with his Aunt Janet. Aunt Janet hates germs and plans to get rid of all the germs in the house before the baby comes home! Aunt Janet thinks that Andy's pets are full of germs and tries to get rid of them as well. Find out Andy's plan to outsmart his Aunt in this exciting book!