I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother [Hardcover]

Selina Alko (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

In this delightfully engaging picture book, our narrator, big brother, uses his boundless imagination to wonder what his new sibling will look like.

Baby brother or sister, will you look like me? I blend from semisweet dark
Daddy chocolate bar and strawberry cream Mama’s milk.
My hair is soft crunchy billows of cotton candy.
I’m your peanut butter big-brother-to-be.

Selina Alko’s lyrical and jazz-like text, matched with the vibrant energy of her illustrations, perfectly captures the excitement of a new baby for an older sibling, while celebrating the genuine love of family.

Selina Alko is the illustrator of My Taxi Ride and My Subway Ride. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts and lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Sean Qualls, who is also an illustrator, and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—A big-brother-to-be muses about his future sibling. He knows that his own looks are a combination of his "dark Daddy chocolate bar and strawberry cream Mama's milk" and wonders how the biracial mix will manifest itself in his new brother or sister. From skin to hair to eyes to lip shape, the boy names the possibilities in a story more poetic than plot-driven. The book ends satisyingly with the birth of a baby sister, whose skin tone looks much like that of her "peanut butter big brother." As is frequently the case in picture books about racial differences, the text relies heavily on food metaphors to create positive associations. Somewhat abstract for the target audience, the story may appeal more to parents than to children. However, it will certainly be appreciated by biracial families, and the loving and anticipatory atmosphere may connect with any expectant family wondering who the new baby will take after.—Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

As a young boy awaits the latest addition to his family, he wonders aloud what the new baby will look like. Coming from a “semisweet dark Daddy chocolate bar” and “strawberry cream mama’s milk,” will the little one be more “pure coal black” or like a “mocha cloud”? Regardless, the new sibling will enter an adoring world, filled with a sweetness that is described in edible terms, all illustrated in the funky, fun gouache and mixed-media illustrations: a pair of lips are shaped like jelly beans; the sunshine is “lemon meringue.” The text is full of literary wordplay, but the food conceit creates a one-note show and the constant comparisons may grow tiresome. Still, this is refreshingly nondidactic story about prenatal anticipation in an interracial home, and it will make a good choice for sharing one-on-one or reading aloud to a group, whose members may want to come up with their own food metaphors for their families. P.S. It’s a girl!

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (March 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375856277
• ISBN-13: 978-0375856273
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.4 x 10.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,709,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lyrical text lends to read-aloud rhythm, July 22, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother (Hardcover)

Big brother wonders whether the new baby will look like him - and considers all the different family features the new baby could have. A lyrical text lends to read-aloud rhythm and an artistic set of drawings captures the feel of a big brother's anticipation of the new arrival.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the beauties of our species, February 1, 2010

By 

Jackson A. Taylor - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother (Hardcover)

When I first encountered this book its frank and welcoming approach captured my attention. The physical variety and difference our species generates is a subject that deserves the contemplation of not only children but also adults. The book is so direct in both its imagery and its text that I was astonished. Such clarity is a welcome gift to teach acceptance and temper the fear that can be experienced when we encounter anyone who isn't us.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is a Stunningly Beautiful Book!, April 7, 2009

By 

J. L. Roemer "Jessi" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother (Hardcover)

This book is an absolute delight! It appeals on all levels; the illustrations are gorgeous, the text poetic and musical. Alko artfully captures the excitement and curiosity of a young child awaiting a younger sibling. What's nice is that this child has no one pre-determined picture of the sibling-to-be; through masterful artwork and spoken-word style text, the book explores a range of possible images of his future sibling. Written from the child's perspective, the book celebrates the lineage of interracial families, while joyously affirming kids and parents of all colors: "Starry night sky and lemon meringue sunshine / Daddy and Mommy blend a mocha cloud." Several of the illustrations resonate, for me, with deep truths about the experience of parenting -- the world-stop-still moments of kissing a child, and the full-heart feeling of watching an older sibling hold the younger one for the first time. My 4-year-old daughter and I can't stop reading and looking at this book (and I know her younger brother will love it in a few years, too)!