From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2–A winsome, appealing story about sibling rivalry. Although the focus is on older boys and the little brothers who plague them, the scenarios are so universal and commonplace–the unfairness of a younger sibling's lack of responsibilities, his constant struggle to reach beyond his grasp, his attempts to impress an increasingly irritated older brother–that children of both genders will recognize themselves in McPhail's everyboys. Of course, by book's end, the long-suffering older brother changes his tune about his younger sibling, noting that "When we go fishing, he finds the fattest worms," and that "...he stayed up with me" all night to care for the dog when she was sick. When big brother heads off to summer camp, he admits he may even miss the little guy. McPhail's perfectly limned vignettes, in pen and ink with watercolor washes, are reminiscent of Maurice Sendak's work in his "Little Bear" period, and draw out undertones of humor, aggravation, and affection. More earnest than Kevin Henkes's
Julius, the Baby of the World (Greenwillow, 1990), more delicately wrought than Russell Hoban's
A Baby Sister for Frances (HarperCollins, 1964), and less raucous than Rosemary Wells's
Noisy Nora (Viking, 1999),
My Little Brother is sure to find an appreciative audience.
–Sophie R. Brookover, Camden County Library, Voorhees, NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
PreS-Gr. 2. Each one of McPhail's clear, beautiful, soft-toned, line-and-watercolor pictures creates a world and leaves space for a story, a whole picture book on every page. The words are simple: "Little brothers can be a lot of trouble." Big Brother complains about doing the chores and about his little brother's "messing with my stuff." But he also talks about times when the boys have fun together, and help one another. "When our puppy, Jenny, got sick, he stayed up with me to take care of her," reads the text, accompanied by a heartbreaking picture of the three sleepy companions on the floor by the bed. Although the rural New England setting is idyllic, and the boys' grandparents will seem more like great-grandparents to many toddlers, everything works because of the realism and tenderness about the needy little pest. Kids will fill in their own scenarios of siblings they love. A good companion to McPhail's
Sisters (2003).
Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
