Customer Reviews

My New Baby (New Baby Series)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One of the very few books I have ever seen that shows the mom nursing, while the dad changes diapers and the little child (boy I think) helps. Then the dad goes for a walk in the Bjorn, does the cooking, and everyone looks happy, not worried or uncomfortable that a new baby has arrived like other books sometimes portray. TRULY a wonderful book. Great that it doesn't have words, much nicer to make up your own.

This is a short board book about a toddler experiencing life with a new baby. Most of the pictures are peaceful watercolors, a few I thought were too busy for small children to process what is happening in the story. But overall, it's a nice gift to an expectant family as it doesn't put words into the mouths of the older sibling ("I feel left out. I hate the baby." blah blah blah like so many other "new baby" books do.) but rather allows the reader to adapt to the actual child's situation. (Maybe there is a child out there that is excited to have a new sibling? What a concept!) Bonus: breastfeeding is pictured twice, discreetly. Mom nurses the baby while Dad fixes dinner and so on. My 2.5 yo found this a fun book to page through on her own as she awaits her own new baby in the family.

We loved that this book depicted relationships in a respectful and realistic manner. The older boy helps out Mum and Dad, plays alone with baby, has time playing quietly by himself and at the end of the day when baby is in bed, has some quality time alone with Mum and Dad reading a book. We also liked how Dad is actively involved eg he cooks dinner while Mum nurses baby.

Although it had no words, our 1.5 year old twins loved pointing out and naming objects that they knew and of telling us what was happening. For example:
"poo" (baby getting nappy/diaper changed)
"wah, wah" (baby crying)
"shh" (baby sleeping)

We got a number of new baby books, some good some not. This is one that we'd recommend.

This book was a little hard to read with the lack of words! However in looking at the pictures we found lots to talk about including Daddy cooking, the baby sleeping and having to be quiet and breastfeeding (not in our other big brother type books). I find my son interacting more with this book than the other ones which he just listens to. Although he doesn't choose to read this book as often as the others I find it gives me more of a reading on how he's understanding this whole new baby experience.

We just started to read this book (and a few others on this subject) and this is our 23 mth old's favorite. She wants to read this one and a few other baby related books a few times each day. The book doesn't have any words in it but you'll have no problem talking about what is happening in each of the pages. It's neat to listen to other people's version of the "text".

My daughter particularly enjoys looking at books with pictures but no words right now: I tell the story and we discuss the pictures. She brings me this book and says, "Baby!" She really enjoys pointing to the baby and pointing out other objects in each picture (bunny, ball, snake doll, frog doll, bathtub, duck, etc.)

I bought the book even though we don't plan to have a second baby right away, because I really liked how the family is portrayed. Mom nurses the baby on the first page and then is shown nursing again while Dad and the older child make a salad for dinner. Dad is shown changing and dressing the baby on 2 pages, and then takes the baby and older sibling for a walk, wearing the baby rather than using a stroller! This is great for our family since we are committed to breastfeeding and babywearing, so it reflects my daughter's experience. I also like that both the baby and the older child are drawn in a gender-neutral way so you can customize your own story to be about a little boy or a little girl who gets a baby brother or sister, depending on your own family! I highly recommend this board book.

Pros:
1) Presents attachment parenting perspectives - mother breastfeeding, father invovled (cooking dinner for nursing Mom and sibling), involved grandparents, baby-wearing by the father, etc.
2) Presents the arrival of the baby as a happy event for the family and older sibling. Other books deal a lot with the sibling being jealous or angry about the new baby and all the things the baby can't do yet. This book avoids those topics so it's perfect if your child is happy or neutral about the new baby. Why introduce those concepts if they don't apply to your child?

Cons:
1) This book has no words - only pictures. While I like the notion of being able to present the "story" in your own way to your child, it would be nice if there were some words for when your tired...ha ha. Maybe just neutral things describing the pictures or something.
2) The pictures in the book are very cluttered and, in my opinion, too busy for a small child. My son (just 2) is a little distracted by all the other stuff in the pictures (toys, et) and sort of hardly notices the baby in the pictures.
3) Oddly, the Mom in the book often is seen headless...lol. Sounds strange, but often only her arms or body are pictured. Kinda strange. Same is true for his version of the book about pregnancy. Just headless Mom with a big bump! Not a big deal though. Just an oddity.
4) The book presents a grandma and grandpa. If your child doesn't have both a grandma and a grandpa (death or divorce), this is a tough one to explain around - this also came up for us in their version of the pregnancy book. Also the grandparents are quite elderly and look nothing like what my child thinks of when he thinks of his grandma.

All in all, it's a fine book. We use it and it has it's place. I love the goal of the book - attachment parenting approach - letting parents present the idea of the baby to the child in their own way. I just think it could have been executed a little better.

I'm trying to get our almost 2 year old ready for her baby brother's arrival, and I found this series PERFECT. I especially liked a few things about this:

1. It shows mommy breastfeeding! Since we all know how much time nursing mothers spend doing this, it's great for my toddler to see mommy nursing in the book. I think it will help her prepare for it once baby is here.

2. Daddy is helping out in the books while mommy nurses! How great. I do not want my daughter raised that childcare and housework is "Woman's work"... daddy even takes baby and toddler out for a walk in the book.

The illustrations are beautiful, and there are no words so you and your little one can talk about what you see and make up your own story! It's interesting to see how they percieve the pictures.

I highly recommend this for those of you with toddlers getting ready to become big brothers and sisters!

My 21 month old LOVES to read this book and see what the new baby will be doing! The baby is not gender specific so you can tailor it to fit your family. Also, I love that it shows the baby nursing two different times, and Daddy making dinner!!!! Fabulous!! No words allow you to make up the story to fit your family. I highly recommend this to anyone who is having a baby!

Cute book! I was suprised that there was no written story. But it ended up being nice to make up your own story using actual family names.