On the Day You Were Born: A Photo Journal [Spiral-bound]

Debra Frasier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Debra Frasier's On the Day You Were Born has been loved by more than a million families since its publication ten years ago. Now parents can extend the celebration of their child's birth with this easy-to-use photo journal inspired by that modern classic. By simply adding eight photographs, a few details--and a lot of love--they can create a wonderful book to read with their child about their first day together.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Inspired by Debra Frasier's enormously popular On the Day You Were Born, this charming photo journal invites families to celebrate the arrival of their loved one into the natural world. A star-spangled blue sky, crossed by a swath of sunshine yellow with gold birds, introduces the reader to "the very first day you arrived." Baby's picture and name go right in the middle of all the cheery yellow. Turn the page: "You were born on the round planet Earth. Was it day, or was it night?" is printed with another space for a picture and a line to write the date and time of birth against the backdrop of more starry sky with that old blue and green globe plopped in the middle and a figure of a child frolicking across the ocean. On another page, the jubilant child dances across a beach: "On the day you were born waves washed the beaches clean for your footprints. How little were your fingers? How tiny were your toes?"

By adding eight photographs and filling in a few details, parents can create a very special journal for their child, rejoicing together in all the natural wonders of the universe. Here is an ideal gift for the new parents with a vibrant connection to nature. --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Inspired by her bestselling book of the same name, On the Day You Were Born: A Photo Journal by Debra Frasier supplies a sturdy cardboard frame on each of its eight spreads. The photographs then personalize and add meaning to the calming text, "On the day you were born a circle of people welcomed you with voices familiar and clear." On this page, in addition to the photo frame, a prompt asks youngsters (and parents) to write down the "people who welcomed you," while the facing illustration shows a woman holding a baby as friends and family gently dance around her.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 16 pages
• Publisher: HMH Books (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152021728
• ISBN-13: 978-0152021726
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Photography
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Babies & Toddlers > General

More About the Author

DEBRA FRASIER is the author and illustrator of the picture book classic On the Day You Were Born. Her other books include Out of the Ocean, winner of the Southeast Booksellers Association Children's Book Award, and Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster, an IRA Teachers' Choice and an IRA-CBC Children's Choice, A Birthday Cake is No Ordinary Cake, and a Fabulous Fair Alphabet, a CCBC Children's Concept Book Selection. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and offers an award winning website for teachers and families at www.debrafrasier.com.

While well known for her talks on book creation and creative process for adults and children, Debra's work does not stop with the last page of a book. Often entire community projects grow around her titles:

On the Day You Were Born is given in hospitals to newborns, murals cover birthing center hospital walls, and a symphony travels the country blending music, pictures, and text.

Miss Alaineus offers the astonishing Vocabulary Parade, so don't miss the short videos at her website showing the book's process and a sample parade in a school. Thousands of schools participate every year! Kids go wild with creativity and imagination in designing vocabulary words into costumes. (www.debrafrasier.com)

A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake has served as the inspiration for numerous community service projects where young people make "cake boxes" for the local food shelves.

And, most recently, A Fabulous Fair Alphabet offers a game to play at your local fair! OR consider hosting an Alphabet Fair at your local school or community center, directions on the website! Watch the invitation-to-play video, filmed at the Minnesota State Fair where Debra served as the Author in Residence in 2010, hosting a vocabulary booth for thousands of participants. (Watch a summary of this fair project at her website.) Also, a virtual fair tour on the website will introduce the fair to anyone who longs to see animals, rides, and fair foods!

It's all at: www.debrafrasier.com!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Radiant and moving, July 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: On the Day You Were Born Book-and-Rattle Set (Hardcover)

"On the day you were born a forest of tall trees collected the Sun's light in their leaves, where, in silent mystery, they made oxygen for you to breathe..." Radiant and moving, it doesn't get much better than this explaining what went on in the Universe the day your child was born. A book that I highly recommend. A child will feel and know that they are a significant part of Universe. A beautiful book to give as a gift.Although this book is recommended for the 4-8 group, a child of 12 months will be fascinated and held captive with this book and grow along with the book.This is a beautiful book celebrating the joy and wonder when a child is born. It describes how everyone, from animals to people to Earth itself, celebrated when 'you'were born. A child can't help but feel loved and very special when this book is read to them. And the parent, who is reading the book, can't help but realize how wonderful bring a new baby into the world really is. This is an ideal gift for a family when a child is born.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quintessential Baby Gift, April 6, 2002

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Day You Were Born (Hardcover)

I wish I had known about this book long before now, because it would have been the only gift I would have given to any new parent. It certainly will be so from now on.

In the most beautiful and spiritual wording imaginable, this book tells a child in no uncertain terms that his or her birth was a celebration--a cosmic event that changed the world for the better. Although it has some New Age aspects to it, it transcends any religion or dogma, and is, quite simply, completely beautiful.

I want to buy it now, for my two teenaged children to cherish and keep. I want them to know that even though I often want to wring their respective teenaged necks, this is what they mean to me--every single word in this glorious book. I have never felt so moved over a baby gift as I am over this one. It is truly a gift of the heart, not only for me, but for anyone who is, or who has just become, a parent.

Sometimes we forget just how much of a celebration the arrival of a new child can be. "On the Day You Were Born" is meant to remind us, and our children, now and forever. What a wonderful keepsake!!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Birthday Tradition, June 17, 2000

By 

Barbsjemms (The Desert) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Day You Were Born Book-and-Rattle Set (Hardcover)

In my family, we have used this book to start a yearly b-day tradition. I read this book to each of my children the night of her birthday with the whole family in attendence. I have yet to get through a reading without crying. Am tearing up thinking about it now LOL A lovely, touching book and a wonderful way to communicate to your children how deeply they are loved.