Welcome With Love [Hardcover]

Jenni Overend (Author), Julie Vivas (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jack and his family welcome a baby boy in this tranquil description of a seamless home birth, from an Australian team. "Mum's got pains in her tummy and that means her baby is ready to be born," announces the boy narrator. Overend makes the baby's arrival a family affair and carefully describes the events from a child's perspective. When Mum takes a walk outdoors alone in the whistling wind to "help the baby along," for instance, Jack thinks, "If I was a baby listening to that wind, I'd want to stay inside Mum, floating in the warm water." The woman's walk and subsequent indoor pacing works, however, and she finally gives birth in a standing position, fully undressed, supported by her husband as her children and sister look on, and a midwife guides the infant out. In a placid concluding tableau, the older siblings curl up in sleeping bags before the fire, alongside their parents and the newborn. Vivas's (Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge) softly focused pencil illustrations capture the serenity of the delivery, as well as Jack's aweAand slight apprehensionAat the arrival of his new brother. Though the natural childbirth scenario may not be typical of most youngsters' experience, those awaiting the birth of a new sibling may well take comfort in the book's smooth introduction of the stages leading up to labor as well as its soothing tone and images. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 6-A refreshing book that dares to show and tell it like it is. "Mum's got pains in her tummy and that means her baby is ready to be born." So Jack, his two older sisters, Dad, Anna the midwife, and Mum's sister get ready. The baby's clothes are laid out, the "special microphone" and an oxygen tank are unpacked, and a giant bed is set up by the fire. Readers are then presented with the routines and realities of a home birth. This book is bold and sensitive, tasteful and sweet. There is no shielding from reality. Mum yells and screams and leans on Dad. Jack, from whose point of view the story is told, is anxious and unsure of what to expect. When the baby is born, there are several startling and yet beautiful images: the baby's head emerging from between Mum's standing legs, the baby boy dangling upside down on the page with his umbilical cord reaching up, and finally the mother, naked and on her knees cradling the baby in her arms. There is an inner glow to these colored-pencil illustrations, a softness and purity that allows for total acceptance of this unadorned experience. There is a feeling of intimacy, as if readers are more than bystanders to this most incredible and natural occurrence. The howling wind is used as a literary element, wild as Mum progresses through her labor, dying down at night, and calm, as it is inside. This is a book to be shared, discussed, and simply enjoyed. It is steeped in love.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Kane/Miller Book Pub; 1st American Edition edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916291960
• ISBN-13: 978-0916291969
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #800,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, tender account of a homebirth for children, November 17, 2001

By	Christy Sturm (Chicago suburbs, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome With Love (Hardcover)

I bought this book on the recommendation of a midwife in the homebirth practice I used with my 2nd child. I was amazed by the beautiful story & lovely pictures. My 3 year old loved it too - especially the pictures of the little children meeting the new baby. I was so happy to have this book to introduce this topic to my daughter so she wouldn't be afraid by what was happening. It really prepared her well.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Home Birth Momma, February 6, 2002

By	"homebirthmomma" (Sydney's World Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome With Love (Hardcover)

As a home birth mom myself I adore this book! I needed a "how was I born book" for my daughter. So many books talked about the hospital birth and I did not want to imbed that into her precious mind. Co sleeping, brestfeeding, labor and love are all beautifully portrayed! I nerer noticed the rusticness until I read it in these other reviews. BUY IT, KEEP IT FOREVER!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fills a definite need, April 4, 2001

By	Catherine Hallberg "(Kate)" (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Welcome With Love (Hardcover)

I had a homebirth and loved it. I think everyone, adults and children, need to know more about the absolute joy and safety of birthing at home. My 2 children who attended their baby brother's birth now accept homebirth as normal, not just for people who "don't like hospitals".

On the other hand, I was disappointed that the family portrayed wasn't just a regular, ordinary family. They were removed from the life that most of us live- they heated only with wood, and lighted their home with candles. Few of us do that. Most of us have central heat and lights, a water heater and a gas stove. We drive to our midwife's prenatal appointments in our cars purchased a Any Dealer USA. We aren't "back to nature" people. I fear that this book portrays a homebirthing family as out of the ordinary. As long as we view it that way, Boulder's 12% homebirthing rate will be *exceedingly* rare, and 99% of US births will continue to be in hospitals. That is a shame.