Although the narrator is very close to a big-brother ideal, he does express disgust with stinky diapers, frustration with people telling me to SHHHH because the baby is sleeping, and disappointment when a parent can t play because I have to take care of the baby. He proudly shares that he knew how to dial 911 and call Daddy if the baby came early, a detail absent from most baby-on-the-way books that s presented matter-of-factly and without alarmism. Hudson lays out a best-case scenario for her narrator and his family: he helps with apparently unflagging cheer. The little boy, who looks to be about 4 or 5, tells readers how he helped Mommy and Daddy before the baby arrived, how he waited with Grandma while his parents were at the hospital, and how he adapts to the new family member.
A beautiful little gem of a book, unassuming and universal.A little black boy revels in filling one of the most important roles in the family big brother. But when the child says that it’s all good at the end, you believe him thanks to the tender beauty of Walker’s art and Hudson’s prose. The boy endures some minor disappointments (like needing to be quiet around the sleeping tot and not being able to engage in loud play). Although the book is snark-free, it doesn’t feel sappy or cloying. I love how Hudson calls the new addition “the baby,” resisting gender specification and thus increasing the title’s universality (so many times I’m told by patrons “oh, my child has a new baby sister so books with baby brothers won’t work” or vice versa). Hudson’s succinct, child-friendly first person text walks the audience through what to expect when the baby first arrives (lots of sleeping and dirty diapers–but the protagonist’s patient smiles show it’s not completely horrible). This helpful, resourceful little guy helps even before the baby is born: talking to his mommy’s tummy, painting the baby’s room, and making sure his mother’s bag is by the door when she has to quickly leave for the hospital.
Walker’s warm watercolors introduce young readers to a charming boy who cannot wait to take on his exciting new role as big brother. And then the person asking for titles will say “please, let me rephrase it–can you find me positive, honest, and/or reassuring books that don’t make the new addition seem like a complete bother?” Yes, as much as I love subversive picture books that have characters mailing their new baby sister or brother to another locale (and possibly even outer space), it’s refreshing to discover such a loving, seemingly simple, emotionally direct book like I’m a Big Brother Now. One of the questions I often get at the children’s reference desk is for “big brother” or “big sister” new sibling books. Hudson, published by Marimba Books (distributed by Just Us Books), ISBN: 978-1603490146.
I’m a Big Brother Now, illustrated by Sylvia L.
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