The Gigantic Baby [Library Binding]

Mordicai Gerstein (Author), Arnie Levin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Dad helps his little girl realize that it's all right not to be perfect.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Whether or not readers live with younger siblings who seem to cry incessantly, they will appreciate the good-humored absurdity of Gerstein's ( Arnold of the Ducks ; The Mountains of Tibet ) larger-than-life tale about a baby who grows to similar proportions. Wailing day and night, Marvin's newborn sister quickly outgrows her bassinet, her crib--and even the house. The colossal infant is then moved to an airplane hangar, where a fleet of trucks brings her milk and a construction crane delivers the circus tent that serves as her diaper. Just when it seems that nothing is able to stop the child from howling--or expanding--she catches sight of the smiling moon above. For the first time, the baby laughs, then falls asleep and shrinks back to normal size. Heightening the story's droll hyperbole are Levin's cartoony, detail-filled drawings. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-- Gerstein's wacky humor fails here. On her second day home from the hospital, Marvin's new sister begins to cry. Appallingly, the louder she cries, the more she grows; the more she grows, the more she eats; the more she eats, the louder she cries--and on, and on. The doctor assures the harried parents that the baby is perfectly normal except for her astonshing growth rate and colic, which of course makes her cry. Soon the screaming infant is so big that she must live in an airplane hanger and endure diaper changes by a construction crane. It is Marvin who suggests that if the baby laughs, she'll stop crying and perhaps stop growing. Finally, it is the moon that succeeds in making the baby laugh and subsequently shrink to a normal size. While the cartoonlike illustrations successfully depict the anguished family and their disrupted life, they underscore the distress of an unappealing infant who isn't even wanted in her own neighborhood where her shrieking keeps everyone awake. The family is portrayed as harassed more than loving. Even the happy ending fails to satisfy because it is reached, not with Marvin's help, but through the natural intervention of the moon. --Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (August 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060221062
• ISBN-13: 978-0060221065
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,910,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously?, August 19, 2011

By 

S. Haas (Eau Claire, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The gigantic baby (Paperback)

I had never read any reviews of this book before and even though I read it years ago when I was working as a library aide,it STILL sticks in my head as amazingly funny.
My daughter loved it and still remembers it too so I don't know how that could of been a 'fail' as the pro reviewer seemed to think.
What ever. I'm buying a copy for my grandson cause I bet he'll think it's funny too.
When adults read a kids book, they kinda have to suspend belief in a lot of rules that adults take for granted and think as a child. You'd think a professional book reviewer would know how to do that but, who knows, maybe the cat pooped in her work shoes the night before.