This informative and interactive book is both a keepsake and a guide for new siblings. It’s inclusive of families with a mom and dad, two moms, or two dads—but falls short in its use of gender-inclusive language and makes no room for families formed via adoption or surrogacy.
The book is full of useful information to help a young child who is about to become a sibling learn more about how babies grow in a tummy, to feel a part of the process of preparing for the new arrival, to reflect on their feelings, and to think about what they’ll do when the sibling arrives. There are practical tips for how to hold and feed an infant, and how to help with bath time, play time, and even diaper time. Tips for grown-ups help us adults understand what the older sibling may be feeling and how to engage them while we are caring for a newborn.
The book includes information on “What Is Pregnancy?” though it offers only the barest details of how an embryo grows into a fetus inside a uterus. One image shows sperm meeting egg, but there is no text to accompany this; that’s not a criticism, just a description of what to expect here. (Try What Makes a Baby if you’re looking for more on how to explain the process to young children.)
The text in some places uses gender-neutral language like “pregnant person” and “birthing people,” but elsewhere slips back into gendered terms like “Mommy’s belly” and “Mommy’s breast,” and sentences like: “Most moms need a few weeks to rest after delivering a baby” and “You can find other ways to cuddle with mom.” There’s also an assumption that the baby will be carried by the mother; adoptive families or ones formed via surrogacy will not see themselves here.
It’s notable, though, that in the spaces for the older sibling to write down information about the new arrival (like weight and hair color), there is no explicit space for “gender,” which leaves room for families to discover that as the baby gets older.
There’s good material here in terms of helping an older child prepare for a new sibling, practically and emotionally, but the imagery and language will fit only a subset of families.
