You and Me (New Baby)

My daughter loves this series! She's 17 months and we've been reading these together with her to get ready to have another baby. I love how there's very little text to encourage more talking about the pictures, my daughter personally doesn't like her books that have a lot of words to read, it doesn't hold her attention as well at this stage. I call the older child in the books by my daughter's name when we're reading and then ask her where the baby is. She points to it every time! (Except the Waiting for Baby book, she doesn't really understand yet that there's a baby in Mommy's tummy) The illustrations are very beautifully done, and I also love how the baby is nursing since my daughter is too, it's easier to talk about how she might have to share when baby comes. Would definitely recommend the entire series for a big sibling to be!

Having kids 17 months apart is hard on the older sibling. This series helped me talk to my 17 months old about what was going to happen. She loves every single one of the four books. They are great to just talk since they really don't have a story. I bought the expecting one while pregnant and right away purchased the other three. Now my baby is three months and we rarely read the expecting one, my daughter loves the "my new baby" which is the stage we are at now... Soon we will move to the next one. They are in chronological order according to developmental stage of the baby... From being expecting, to new born, to just a couple months, to almost a year. I highly recommend them!

New grandchild on the way. This happy book provides opportunities to talk with our current grandchild about her new sister. Reinforces the new baby will be small and won't be able to do all the things her big sister can do. Not really a story. More like individual observations about the baby and interactions with the older sibling. Suited for a toddler who is going to be a big brother or big sister soon!

I have all 4 books from this series. And I agree with the reviewer Sunderi that this book is a little negative, hence requiring a little parental 'tweaking' in the way I present it to my toddler. For instance, on page 2, the elder sibling has 'angry eyebrows' as baby tugs on her hair. Here, it's written: "Ouch! Don't do that! Why is Baby laughing?" When juxtaposed this way, it's suggested that babies take pleasure in inflicting hurt. And instead of there being some kind of suggestion that babies instinctively clutch their fists tightly, the next page flips to a completely different scene. In another book I own, 'Betsy's Baby Brother' by Gunilla Wolde, baby brother grabs a handful of Betsy's hair and tugs very hard too, but there is resolution when 'Mommy explains that babies love to grab at everything with their tiny little fingers'. There's no need for pity for the elder sibling or admonition of the baby, just a quick explanation before moving on. To support the earlier review that this book was a touch negative, here are more examples. On page 2: elder sibling frowns when baby tugs at hair. On page 4, elder sibling plugs ears with fingers (worried eyebrows, frustrated frown): 'Oh no, the baby's shouting!' On page 5, elder sibling sits, beady-eyed, with back to her friend and the baby with resentful frown and folded arms: 'Baby likes my friend more. What about me?' On page 6, baby crawls to pick up a doll; elder sibling and friend say: 'Oh no! We don't want you to move that.' On page 7, baby spits out green mush: 'What's the matter? Don't you like this?' I'm not against negative portrayals - they are accurate portrayals of infant behaviour - just the lack of explanation or redirection necessary at a toddler sibling's level. To make the best of this book, I've taken to actually answering the questions posed on almost every page of the book rather than taking them to be rhetoric. Sometimes I add a short line of explanation because I don't want my toddler to identify with the hurt sibling in the book and stop at that negative association with a new sibling. It is more helpful to make sense of the situation and move on from there. Sometimes I vary my approach, and ask my toddler leading questions, like 'Do you know that babies like new faces?' (in response to page 5). Or I explain, as William and Martha Sears do in the book 'What Baby Needs', that crying is the way babies talk and show us what they need, and that babies cry when hungry, tired, lonely or wet (paraphrased) (in response to page 4). My almost 3 year old toddler hasn't yet learnt to read, so her primary mode of understanding books is to study the pictures. I have given this book 3 stars because there is little I can do about the images portrayed in the book (the sulking, turning away, angry eyebrows, folded arms, etc.) I am concerned that she may emulate the unhelpful responses/behaviour of the toddler, despite my efforts to redirect them to more positive outcomes. Rather than struggle to come up with creative ways of re-presenting the information portrayed in this book (albeit beautifully illustrated), I would recommend giving this book a miss. If you want a book that beautifully illustrates the hopes an elder sibling holds of playing with the baby as he grows up, try Mercer Mayer's 'Just me and my little brother'. Usborne's First Experiences 'The New Baby' also provides a different take in portraying a family's anticipation of and arrival of a new baby's. Illustrated in softer shades, the positive storyline involves an elder brother and sister in taking care of the baby, and the support provided by grandparents. In a nutshell, I wish I had given this book a miss. The writing isn't fatal; it's just careless, and the playful scenes on the last couple pages of elder sibling playing in the bath and reading a bedtime book with baby aren't sufficient to justify the purchase. I hope this review helps you in your decision.

I love this series of books for preparing a child for a new sibling. (We have 3 of the 4.) This particular book, though, is a little negative. I don't mind the idea of preparing the child for the fact that they may be less than 100% thrilled with the new baby, but I feel like there is a LOT of that in this book. Generally, I like the series, and even this book, but just be prepared that this is a bit less positive than the others.

This is a cardboard book with pictures of a big sibling (gender neutral) and a baby who is probably between 6-12 months old. Great sequel to "My New Baby". There is 1-2 short sentences at the bottom of each page. I prefer to create my own narrative based on the pictures - I say whatever I want my 2 y/o son to learn about babies. He likes to point things out in the pictures, too.

This series of books are really cute, are great for toddlers as the pages cannot be ripped, and most of the illustrations could be a boy or girl so you can speak more directly to your child about imagining their particular situation. We like them a lot and my daughter liked them at bedtime for several weeks before we moved on.

Bought all 4 of these books to help a 2 year old grandson prepare for a new sibling! GREAT BOOKS!! He loved the pages that covered things he does, and they introduced the concept of "baby" and what the baby would bring to his life. Love that the books are multicultural and gender neutral too!

Cute little book in great condition. We have the first two and I absolutely love them, this is a great addition.

I didn’t like many of the artistic elements in the illustrations.

We had the other two books by this author and this was great for our busy baby and our preschooler.

Kids really enjoyed it

Any child will love this book. For an 18 month old Its a lovely book to at, points things out. For an older child you will certainly start to engage in conversation about what it will be like for the child to be a big brother/sister, what the child will expect to happen once the younger child reaches an age when he/she is into everything. Love this book and its well worth the money.