Toddler Book Recommendation About New Sibling

Updated on March 26, 2009
T.C. asks from Dover, DE
16 answers

Hey Moms, I'm looking for a book to read to my toddler to help prepare her for the arrival of a baby brother this summer. Board books are best and she loves to look at pictures of babies. Does anyone have a suggestion for a book that worked well to introduce the concept of no longer being an only child? Thanks!

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C.F.

answers from Washington DC on

I agree that "I'm a Big Sister" by Joanna Cole is wonderful, however it is not a board book, but it covers from when the baby comes home from the hospital and coping with the changes.

I also used "Waiting for Baby" by Annie Kubler, which is a board book, no words, just illustrations, covering pregnancy, preparing for baby's arrival and the hospital.

Bothe excellent!

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L.S.

answers from Dover on

I have the "I'm a Big Sister" by Joann Cole. My first two daughters love it and have me read it frequently.

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S.J.

answers from Washington DC on

Mercer Mayer's The New Baby is very sweet. I like the entire collection for toddlers.

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K.T.

answers from Dover on

Dr Sears has a great series of books. There are two, Baby on the Way and What Baby Needs. They are great to get together and the first is all about getting ready for baby and the second is about what baby needs once he/she gets here. They are hard covers, but paper pages - but I read them with my 3 yr and 22 month old all the time with no torn pages yet! If you plan on nursing these are especially good as they show baby nursing (as well as taking a bottle from dad).
Best of luck,
K.

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K.S.

answers from Washington DC on

I agree with the previous person. The "I'm A Big Sister"/"I'm a Big Brother" books are great for sharing about her new role. It also stresses things she can do that the baby cannot to make her feel special. Best of luck!

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A.S.

answers from Washington DC on

There are several books we enjoyed when my I was expecting my son.
I'm a big sister - Joanna Cole and Maxie Chambliss

My New Baby by Annie Kubler. Child’s Play (International) Ltd., 2000. This 14 page, wordless board book shows a toddler helping his family to care for the new baby. Two breastfeeding pictures. (ages 1 – 2) - we loved this one because since it doesn't have words we could change the story each time. She also has one called waiting for baby.

Welcoming Your Second Baby by Vicki Lansky was a great book for me as a mom to find creative ideas to help make my daughter feel included. She still treasures the gift we had waiting for her at the hospital when she came to see the baby for the first time that we said was from him.

Good luck. One thing that really helped is referring to the baby while I was pregnant as her baby. That made her feel really included and excited.

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C.D.

answers from Norfolk on

For my son I used Don Octavio and the new creature. (I think that was the name, can't get to their bookcase right now) Anyway it is a really great story with beautiful illustrations. If you need the author email back.

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L.S.

answers from Washington DC on

My oldest loved Guy Fukojami's Babies -- a "yea baby" kind of board book that recommended cuddling them. We all enjoyed Mercer Mayer's Little Critter New Baby book, but I don't remember the title and it's paperback. My fourth child loved When You Were Born, which explains pregnancy
month to month in a kid friendly way, but it's probably way too much information for an eighteen month old.

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E.E.

answers from Washington DC on

There is a board book called big sister that we used for my daughter. It was great. We still read it and my son was born 7 months ago.
You could also go to the library. They have several!!

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S.K.

answers from Washington DC on

When we were pregnant we gave my daughter Joanna Cole's "I'm A Big Sister" and she LOVED it. It isn't a board book but I'd say it is pretty toddler friendly. It's all about having a new baby in the house and that the parents still love the older daughter so much and what great things she can do since she is a big sister. It emphasizes the benefits of being the big sister.
Good luck!

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J.B.

answers from Washington DC on

Joanna Cole has a book called "I'm a Big Sister". We used the "I'm a Brother" before our second was born and he loved it.

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J.G.

answers from Washington DC on

We had "I'm A Big Sister Now" and "Sophie and the Winter Baby." (It may be Sophie and the New Baby). Both wonderful books.

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K.N.

answers from Washington DC on

Dear Trisha,

Good morning! How are you? I read your message about wanting to find some books for your little one to introduce her new baby brother. I am an educ. consultant for Usborne books and I have a few suggestions.

The specific titles are Little Brothers Are; When I was a Baby; The New Baby; The New Baby Sticker Book; Snuggletime Baby Board Books; Baby's Day Board Books; our chunky Babies Flashcards (so cute) and our Baby Brother Look and Say Board Book. You can visit my ____@____.com to view the entire selection.

For faster searching you can just type in the title or the header that I gave you and pictures and descriptions of the books will pop right up! Some of these were paperback and others were hardback or board books! The prices ranged from 4.99 to 8.99 and I can assure you our books are high quality, popular, and many are award winners.

I have been a consultant for 4 years and my customers have always been very pleased with their orders. If you go to the Local Business Reviews section of your Mamasource website you will find several reviews about my business: Usborne Books at Home. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like further information.

If you would like to have a shopping spree for free :) you can always host an online show where you share my website with family and friends. They order, the books are delivered directly to them but you get the sales credit and earn the free books from the sales. I can set the show up in minutes and create the email invitation and you simply forward it to members of your address book and they can live anywhere in the country. It is a fabulous way for you to earn a mini library and now is a great week to host an online show b/c people are ordering our books and educational products for Easter baskets! My hostesses earn an average of $125 in free and discounted product!

Thank you for your time. I hope it's OK that I wrote so much. Congratulations on the newest little one! Boys are great. I have 6! I look forward to hearing from you if you have time. I left 1 book review below and the rest can be found on the website. I look forward to hearing from you if you have time.

K. Nguyen
Usborne Books Educ. Consultant
###-###-####
____@____.com
www.KidzLoveUsborne.com

Little Brothers Are...
Series: Toddler Tales
Author: Norling, Beth

• Ages: 0 - 3
• Earned the Notable Australian Children’s Books

Spanish edition also available:
Los hermanitos son...

Little brothers can be wriggly, bubbly, naughty and scared. They are shouty, pouty, messy and mad. Every little brother is different, but we love them all the same.

The newest addition to the Toddler Tales series, quality picture books bringing first words, first concepts and first stories to life.

"This may definitely help children who are adjusting to new siblings in their lives." - The Well-Read Child

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E.V.

answers from Roanoke on

I haven't read your other responses, so you may have heard this one already..."I'm a big brother/sister" by Joanna Cole, Illustrated by Maxie Chambliss. I think I got mine at Target or Walmart in 2006. Mine was the brother one so its blue, but I think the sister one is pink! I know there are others, but we just got the one, and he (now 5) wanted to read it even after baby brother (almost 3 now) was born! Good luck and remember, at least a girl wants to do the mommy thing. I was worried my boy would hit his brother! He didn't, but he was IN HIS FACE ALL THE TIME, trying to kiss him...so you might want to talk about getting too close too much, too! We caught him hovered over his brother trying to shove the paci in his mouth saying "take it take it!" No wonder Ethan never did take to one! haha!

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M.P.

answers from Norfolk on

I liked Jean Ashbe's "What's Inside" was a good one, it's very simplistic but explains that there is a baby in your tummy and that the baby will come out to be with the family.

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Inside-Jeanne-Ashbe/dp/091629...

I also liked "My New Baby" by Annie Kubler it's one of the few that depicts a scene of breast feeding and it is solely a picture book (no words) so we could insert our own story and deal directly with specific concerns we had.

http://www.amazon.com/My-New-Baby/dp/0859539741/ref=cm_cr...

And lastly we used "I'm a Big Brother" by Joanna Cole. It was nice because it emphasized all the neat things that only big kids can do and babies can't which did two things, it helped my son realize that the baby wouldn't be coming to play with him right away and it helped him realize that there are alot of things that he can do to help with the baby and explored his role as an older sibling. They do have a sister version as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Big-Brother-Joanna-Cole/dp/06881...

Hope this helps! Congrats on number 2!

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A.G.

answers from Washington DC on

I'll be upfront and tell you that I sell, Usborne and Kane/Miller books. However, I truly believe that our books are the best and we have several that I have given as big brother/big sister gifts and gotten rave reviews about.

The New Baby
http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=X2492&g...

Why it's my favorite gift for a new big brother or sister: This book is very sweet and it grows with your child. Its specially formatted so that when you need to read the story simply you read only across the top and the story makes sense, when you have more time you read the whole page. The story is so delightful, the whole family helps with the new baby, and the mom looks like she is really pregnant (and doesn't magically lose all the weight in the hospital)

When I Was a Baby Deborah Niland
http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=X2492&g...

Why I would recommend this book: Many books discuss what will be different now that there is a new baby in the house, this one focuses on your older child. Its great for discussions about how special it was to be a baby and how great it is to be a big girl. Its great for building confidence and helping her relate to the baby. It is not a board book, but its printed on exceptionally heavy cardstock.

Little Brothers are: http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=X2492&g...

Vocabulary Builder Board Books:

Baby Brother
http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=X2492&g...

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