9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very realistic, June 15, 2009
This review is from: Julius, the Baby of the World (Paperback)
Lilly, like many children, finds her baby brother doesn't live up to the pre-birth hype. He steals attention from her is what he does.
And she expresses this the way many children do - she uses her words. People claiming that their children never, ever, EVER use words like "hate" or "ugly" or "disgusting" either don't have four year olds (Lilly's approximate age), have blocked that age from their memory, are lying, are lying to THEMSELVES, or have the sweetest, nicest, most wonderful children in existence.
The rest of us live in the real world where four is the age of the potty mouth. Gosh, if I go through a day without hearing "I'm NEVER gonna be your SISTER ever AGAIN" and "I hate you, you're MEAN!" and "You're UGLY and MEAN and I'm gonna PEE ON YOU!" I start feeling foreheads! And of course my two nieces love each other very much (heaven forbid I put one in time-out for antagonizing her sister, it's the other one who whines and tries to convince me it's unnecessary and sneaks around to hand out hugs behind my back!), but like all young children they have big emotions and limited means of expressing them. (Really, I'm just happy they use their words instead of their hands.)
And of course they didn't pick up the words "hate" and "ugly" and "disgusting" from the book, they picked it up from other children and from us - who doesn't say, when they burn their toast for the third time in a row, "Ugh, I hate burned toast"? Who doesn't say, when their kid picks their nose at the table, "Ugh, that's disgusting, go wash off and don't do it again"? Who doesn't say, when they find a bug in the house, "Hey, an ugly bug! Let's put it outside!"? (Who really wants to limit their child's vocabulary and leave them hopeless when they start school?)
So yes, this is a very realistic book. And the resolution - banding together to protect her brother from an outsider - is pretty realistic too, the surplus of mice notwithstanding. I definitely recommend it for any child in the suggested age range of 4 - 8.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you want children to love literature read them this book!, August 8, 1999
By A Customer
Kevin Henkes has written some wonderful books but Juilus steals my passion for reading. Everytime I read this story and act out Lilly's intolerable personality towards her baby brother Julius my students go wild. They especially love the part when Lilly is bending over the crib telling Julius the wrong order of the ABC's and 123's. I plan on buying all of Kevin Henkes books. I already have Chester's Way, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Shelia Rae the Brave, Chrysanthemum, A Weekend With Wendell, and Jessica. He is a great author and his books exhibit his talent.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful book for children and adults., August 30, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Julius, the Baby of the World (Paperback)
My entire family absolutely loves this book. It is a great read-aloud story that children happily listen to time after time. We call it "Max, the Baby of the World," after my youngest child. I bought extra copies and passed them on to relatives who have gone on to do the same. It is a timeless story of sibling rivalry and love.
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