What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby (What to Expect Kids) [Hardcover]

Heidi Murkoff (Author), Laura Rader (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: What to Expect Kids

Growing Up Just Got Easier ...

With the help of Angus, the lovable Answer Dog, best-selling author Heidi Murkoff extends a hand to children and parents as they tackle life's first experiences together.

Congratulations - you're having another baby! You're excited and a little nervous, but most of all you're wondering how you're going to explain this miraculous, but complex, process to your older, but still very young, child. We're here to help you answer your child's questions about how a baby is created, how it grows, and how it comes out to join the family.

Have fun!

Heidi and Angus

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With a little handholding (or paw-holding) from Angus the Answer Dog, Mommy's first-born can be guided happily and intelligently through the often bewildering experience of becoming an older sibling. For children who are about to lose their only-child status (or their youngest-child status, in larger families), this read-aloud book is a treasure. On each two-page spread, Angus asks a question: "Where is the baby?" "How did the baby get in there?" "Can the baby hear and see me?" "Why doesn't Mommy feel well sometimes?" and more, each question anticipating the next. He answers these queries with clarity, sensitivity, and attention to age-appropriateness that will be a huge relief to parents and children. Each section has a little game or idea to help children understand what's happening in their family. The introduction invites parents to add to or edit the information provided, according to their own child-rearing philosophies.

Heidi Murkoff, coauthor of the bestselling pregnancy book, What to Expect When You're Expecting, writes lucidly and honestly in all the books in the tremendously appealing What to Expect series for young children, including What to Expect When You Use the Potty and What to Expect When You Go to the Doctor. Laura Rader's cartoonish illustrations are fun and reassuring. Poor Angus will be dog-eared in no time! (Ages 2 to 5) --Emilie Coulter

About the Author

Heidi Murkoff is the co-author of the best-selling series that began with What to Expect When You're Expecting. She has appeared as a parenting expert on national TV, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, Good Morning America and 20/20.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperFestival; 1 edition (May 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694013218
• ISBN-13: 978-0694013210
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Heidi Murkoff is the author of the What to Expect®; series and author of Eating Well When You're Expecting, The What to Expect Pregnancy Journal & Organizer, What to Expect the First Year, The What to Expect Baby-Sitter's Handbook, and the What to Expect Kids series from HarperCollins. Her interactive website is www.whattoexpect.com, and she lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much before the birth and not enough after the birth, July 4, 2000

By 

Maureen D. Brown-petracca "Recent Traveler" (Manassas, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby (What to Expect Kids) (Hardcover)

I'm not a big fan of What To Expect When Your Expecting books but I wanted a way to explain to my 20 month twins that we're having a new baby in a month. This book goes into details such as "How did the baby get inside Mommy?" and "When will the baby be born?" It uses anatomically correct terms such as sperm, ovum, and vagina, which was more detail than I would have gone into. I was looking for a book that would explain what would happen in the house after the baby was born, and this book stops once the baby is born. It does not cover any of the post-birth issues such as how a child can interact with their new sibling or the range of emotional experiences they may go through with a new baby in the house.

A friend gave me Mercer Mayer's book "The New Baby", which my children love to have read and re-read to them and actually deals with how they can interact with the baby after it's born. Also Joanna Cole's book "The New Baby in the House" goes into some of the feelings a child may have about having a new baby brother or sister.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for kids 3 and up, October 17, 2001

By 

"kailuamom" (Kailua, HI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby (What to Expect Kids) (Hardcover)

I got this book for my daughter last spring, when I was pregnant with her sister. The book is wonderful. It answers kids' questions in a way that they can understand. My daughter was 3 1/2 at the time and the book was a favorite -- it satisfied her curiosity in a more "grown-up way" than most other sibling stories, but without giving too much information. I have found that many books just treat the pregnancy as a very vague and "untouchable" topic for kids. This brings it home in a sensitive and caring way.

The questions asked (Where is the baby? How did the baby get in there? How can a baby fit inside Mommy? What makes the baby grow & how can I help? How does the baby eat? Can the baby see and hear me? What does the baby do all day? Why doesn't Mommy feel well sometimes? Why does Mommy go to the doctor so much? When will the baby come out? & How does it come out?) cover most aspects of pregnancy. The "How did the baby get in there?" section does use correct terms (sperm and ovum) but does not get too "graphic" -- it explains conception as pieces of a puzzle fitting together. The book also uses terms like umbilical cord and birth canal, but in a way that is not intimidating to kids. The book gives a good overview and makes the sibling feel connected and part of the process (each section refers to something they can do to help out or experiment to help them feel what the baby may be feeling). I would have loved if the book had covered what happened once the baby came home -- but I see now that topic is a whole new book!

I highly recommend this book! Enjoy it with your soon-to-be big brother/sister! It can promote a lot of discussion & create some special moments together before the baby comes -- it did for us!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, but more for older children (4 & up), February 3, 2002

By 

"parkers_momma" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby (What to Expect Kids) (Hardcover)

Great book with lots of info, but it's written more for ages 4 & up even though it says it's for 2 & up. The terminology is that which most 2 & 3 year-olds will not understand even if it's explained to them. And the "How did the baby get in Mommy's tummy?" section is one I've skipped over when reading the book to my son. A little too much intimate detail for a 2yo to comprehend. Overall, an excellent book, but keep in mind that there are a couple sections you'll probably skip if your soon-to-be older sibling is under 4.